


Tripping on Stars

by orphan_account



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Possessive Sans, Protective Sans, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has female parts, Scientist Sans, Slice of Life, Soulmates, Suicide Attempt, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:16:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7197368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You had come to this bridge to jump, not have some skeleton monster cling to your legs and start telling you bad jokes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Being Awake

**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

You had it planned for weeks.

 

It started when you stopped taking the Zoloft your doctor had prescribed you. You forgot one day, and one day turned into two days, and two days turned into many days. You then stopped calling your parents, and only gave them one word text replies. You started skipping your classes and not talking to your friends-and this was college so nobody actually cared. 

 

You had it planned for weeks.

 

You started feeling empty again. You hated your major, hated the expectations your parents put on you, hated the expectations you put on yourself-none of that had changed, but it all felt like it was crushing you. Whenever you got like this, whenever you caved into the pain and the urges, you called it the Asleep, a miserable phase that came and went where you were barely able to leave your bed. Usually a few cuts would cure of the Asleep for awhile, it would make you Awake again, but this time a few cuts wasn't enough for you.

 

You had it planned for weeks.

 

You didn't know how you ended up here. You were standing on the thick railing of the bridge connecting your college town to the next town over. The cool wind blew against your face. You knew you could take one step forward and end it all. End the Asleep. There was nobody around, nobody to stop you. Any car on the bridge would drive by too fast to notice you in the dark. It would be so easy to do it.

 

You raised your arms up, like that one scene in the Titanic, and hysterical laughter bubbled up in your chest. You went to move your foot of the bridge, but found that you were unable to do so. You looked down at the ground behind you in confusion, and saw a monster clinging to your legs.

 

A skeleton monster.

 

He stared up at you, his sockets were pitch black and there was a tight smile on his face. Was this the grim reaper?

 

"hey, you don't wanna do this, in the long run it's all _water under the bridge,_ isn't it?" No, the grim reaper wouldn't be trying to stop you. This was just a regular monster, belonging to the large group of them that had emerged from the so-called Underground a few years back.

 

You continued to stare down at him, unsure what to do or how to react.

 

"i'm sure some people have told you to  _build a bridge and get over it_ but if you let me help you get down, we can talk about this and get you some help," The skeleton tried again.

 

You stayed silent, noting that the moonlight played pretty shadows across his skull.

 

"knock knock."

 

You finally spoke. "Who's there?" Your voice cracked; you hadn't used it in a long time.

 

"bones."

 

"Bones who?"

 

"bones upon a time there was a skeleton who saved a girl."

 

You cracked a smile, but it left your face as quickly as it appeared. "You should go, sir."

 

"it's sans, what's your name?"

 

"_____," Though your mind, usually so silent, was now telling you to not talk to this strange, kind monster.

 

"_____, why don't you come down from there and we'll talk a bit, yeah?"

 

"I think you should go, Sans, and pretend you didn't see any of this."

 

"i'm not going anywhere, sorry pal."

 

You sighed and looked away from him, back at the vast sea stretching out in front of you. You didn't talk or move. Neither did the skeleton. His arms stayed wrapped around your legs. You felt ironic, remembering how you previously compared your pose to the one in the Titanic; the position the two of you held now was more like that pose than anything you had before.

 

Your legs were starting to hurt. You sighed. "I'll come down if you let go of my legs," You said without looking back at Sans.

 

"if you try to jump after i let go, i can stop you with my magic," Sans warned you.

 

You had forgotten about that. Monsters had magic, and considering the human race's penchant for assholery, you were surprised some scientists hadn't tried to experiment with it. "Okay," You replied, calmly.

 

Sans gingerly let go of your legs. You turned around and finally got a good look at him-he was dressed in a thick blue hoodie with a pair of black joggers and pastel pink slippers. As you bent low to get down, Sans wrapped his arm around your back to help you carefully ease onto the ground. Once you were securely in place, he eyed you warily. "not a good idea for a girl to be out so late in a college town."

 

"Well, you know," You started sarcastically, "I wasn't planning on being out late."

 

He started walking down the bridge, nudging your shoulder to motion that you should walk with him. You did. "i don't feel okay leaving you alone."

 

"I'll be fine, the moment is already gone."

 

His eye sockets which you noticed had two bright spots of light, went dark again. "the moment never passes." 

 

You walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. "my brother and i have an extra room-"

 

"I live in a dorm," You interrupted him.

 

He gave you a sidelong glance. "anyways, we have an extra room and we're looking for a roommate. it would be great if you could live with us for awhile, rent will be real cheap."

 

"That sounds nice and all but-"

 

This time, he interrupted you. "listen, if you don't live with us, i'll call the police on you."

 

You froze, and stared at him disbelievingly. Noticing you weren't walking anymore, he stopped too and turned to look at you. "Are you blackmailing me?"

 

Sans grinned. "yeah, i guess i am." Then his smile suddenly dropped and he gazed at you seriously, "look pal, i wouldn't feel too great if you went and appeared on the headlines tomorrow."

 

"I'm fine," You hissed. 

 

"you're clearly not fine," Sans argued back.

 

You thought about how much trouble you'd be in with your parents if Sans did actually call the police on you.

 

"Fine," You said, almost angrily.

 

"not fi-oh are you agreeing with me?" 

 

"Yes," You grumbled, starting to walk again. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were intrigued by him. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were scared of doing this again. You told yourself you were agreeing because you didn't want this skeleton calling the cops on you, not because you were starting to feel something again. 

 

"You aren't going to, like, murder me in my sleep, are you?"

 

"c'mon, why would i save you only to murder you in your sleep? i'll even help you move. my bro's gonna be so excited we finally found a roommate." Sans was looking at you, and when you turned to look at him, the lights of his eyes were so bright you were nearly blinded.

 

For the first time in a long time, you felt Awake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [TUMBLR](http://www.badtiems.tumblr.com)


	2. A New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

Your room wasn't decorated with posters or cute vision boards like your roommates' were. The only real sign of personality was a small bamboo plant. Your bedsheets and pillowcases were plain colors and there were no stickers on your closet.

 

"huh," Sans said, looking around, "can't really tell much about you from this place."

 

"Well, I never felt like I was truly living in here." You regretted your dark words immediately as they made the atmosphere between the two of you quite morbid.

 

Sans coughed. "why don't you put your stuff in a suitcase, and i'll just take it over to our place?"

 

You raised an eyebrow, "Did you you bring a car that I can't see?"

 

He grinned, "i know a shortcut."

 

The way he said it...you had a feeling he had said that phrase many times before. 

 

"Sure," You grumbled, walking over to your closet. You dragged out your suitcase and started pouring your clothes inside. You froze when you noticed the small box that you kept in the corner. You picked it up carefully and tried to put it inconspicuously into your suitcase. You felt Sans' eyes on you.

 

"i think you should see a therapist." Ah yes, there were the words.

 

"Therapists don't help me," You mumbled out, folding one of your favorite shirts carefully.

 

"you know i read somewhere that most people who try to commit suicide realize they don't want to die."

 

"When do they realize it? When it's too late?"

 

"well, it wouldn't be a statistic if they always realized it when it was too late, right?"

 

You sighed. "Look, it's done. I don't want to talk about this suicide thing anymore."

 

Sans stared at you with unreadable eyes. "you like spaghetti?" He asked suddenly.

 

"What?" You replied, surprised. "I mean, I guess so?"

 

"great, 'cause that's all my brother makes."

 

You were suddenly seized with the fact that you knew little about this skeleton, apart from the fact that he apparently liked playing hero. "How old are you? And do you have a job?" You interrogated.

 

He raised his brow bones, and if anything, just looked amused. "monsters age differently but in human terms, i guess i'd be like twenty-four. as for your second question, yeah i work at the university."

 

"Are you a professor?" You asked, incredulous. For some reason, you couldn't picture this laid back guy to be teaching anything.

 

"nah," He laughed, "i'm a scientist."

 

Oh. That was a respectable occupation. It wasn't like you were expecting him to say that he was a drug-dealer, but "scientist" definitely wasn't the word you had expected to hear from his mouth. You quickly resumed packing your clothes. "What about your brother? Does he have an job?"

 

"he works at the coffee shop on campus."

 

"Oh!" You exclaimed, "I think I saw him a long time ago! When I used to..." You trailed off, looking down. Going to the bridge was the first time you left your dorm in weeks.

 

"Now," Sans said, tapping his phalanges against the wall, "i want to ask you some questions."

 

"About what?" You asked suspiciously.

 

"what's your major?" He started off.

 

"It doesn't matter," You said bitterly, "I hate it and I'm about to flunk out of it."

 

Sans shrugged. "maybe i can pull some strings."

 

You looked up, surprised. "You'd do that?"

 

"well, you're in a tough spot and i-"

 

"I don't need any pity," You said, your voice steely.

 

"maybe it's not pity, maybe it's empathy." Sans' eyes had darkened again, and he spoke quietly.

 

You zipped your suitcase and gently scratched at its surface. "It would be nice, if you could do that. It'd get my parents off my back."

 

"so is that the problem? your parents?" Sans questioned.

 

"My parents are great. They just...we just have different goals." You stood up. "Anyways, I don't want to talk about them. Or anything anymore, to be honest."

 

Sans sighed. "you done packing?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"what about the bamboo plant?"

 

"It's dying anyways."

 

Sans grabbed it regardless, along with your suitcase. "some magic will brighten it up." And then, to your utter astonishment, he disappeared. Before you could blink in surprise, he appeared again, and he smiled wide when he saw your expression. "that's the shortcut," He said cheekily.

 

"You can teleport?" You gaped.

 

"among other things." He held his arms out.

 

"Um, what are you doing?" You asked nervously.

 

His grin widened. "i need to hold you to teleport you."

 

"You can't hold my hand or arm or something?"

 

"nope."

 

You gingerly stepped into his arms and he wrapped his around you immediately. In the seconds before he teleported again, you thought that this was where you belonged. Perhaps not frozen underwater, perhaps with this skeleton.

 

_What were you thinking?  Why would you think that? You just met this guy._

 

When you opened your eyes, you realized you were holding tightly onto him, your knees weak. He smelled good, faintly of some type of cologne that seemed to fit him just perfectly.

 

You pulled away fast, your cheeks red. You distracted yourself by looking around. You were in a spacious, modern looking home. It was incredibly neat, except for a sock with ten sticky-notes on it in a corner. The walls went up high and the windows were large. Sans and his brother were very clearly living well. 

 

"How much is the rent?" You asked quietly, "Because I think my definition of 'cheap rent' is gonna be very different from yours."

 

"two hundred per month." He looked like he just came up with the number, "but i can go lower if you need me to."

 

Your eyes widened. That was cheap rent. Cheaper than your dorm now. "T-two hundred is fine."

 

"c'mon, i'll show you your room. we gotta be quiet 'cause my bro's sleeping." He started walking down a hallway.

 

You followed quietly after him; the two of you passed by two doors before he stopped in front of the third one and pulled the door open. You had to hold back a gasp-the room was beautiful. It was sleek and modern like the rest of the place with ceiling-to-floor length windows. There was a long work desk and a thick wardrobe and the walls were covered in Star Wars posters. Your suitcase and bamboo plant were already inside.

 

"heh, sorry. my bro and i are big star wars nerds and we put posters up in all the rooms." Sans chuckled nervously.

 

You smiled softly at him, maybe for the first time. "It's okay, Sans. The room is beautiful."

 

He stared at you silently for a moment, before smiling back. "i hope you join us for breakfast tomorrow. my brother will be excited to meet you."

 

To your surprise, you realized that you wanted to join him and his brother for breakfast. "I will. Can you not tell him...or anyone, about what happened? At the bridge, I mean."

 

"it'll stay between us."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if there are any errors :)


	3. Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff
> 
> i added some lines to the last few paragraphs of chapter 1 if you want to go check it out again

You swiveled around on one of the bar stools at the breakfast nook. The clock read 5 AM.  You hadn't been able to sleep well, despite how comfortable the bed was. You had gotten some water from the sink for your bamboo plant, but besides that you didn't know what to do anymore. You supposed that you could fill out the forms you would need to officially move out of your dorm, or you could consider taking your pills again, but that all seemed like  _so much work._

 

So instead you swiveled on the bar stool. 

 

You froze when you heard one of the doors creak open. You couldn't imagine Sans being awake at this time. You felt your nerves start to build up. What if you weren't supposed to be sitting on the bar stool at this time? What if you weren't supposed to be awake right now? What if you were supposed to still be in your room? What if, what if,  _what if-_

 

"Human! Hello!" A voice broke you out of anxiety hell. You turned your stool around to see a very tall skeleton, taller than Sans. He was dressed in a ridiculous battle armor costume, that oddly enough, suited him quite well. This must be Sans' brother, you realized.

 

"Hello," You said meekly,

 

"Did you break in?!" The skeleton yelled nervously. 

 

You perked up at that, trying your best not to smile. "No! No, I'm the new roommate."

 

The skeleton visibly relaxed. "Oh! I see, Sans must have found you! Good to see my lazybones brother going out and doing something for once!"

 

You heartily agreed with Sans being a lazybones. You knew him for one day, and besides having what you thought was a bad case of hero's complex, he gave off the vibe of a lazybones more than anything else. "I'm _____, by the way," You introduced yourself.

 

"Oh, silly me! I should have introduced myself first, dear _____! I'm the Great Papyrus, Sans' brother!" He exclaimed, holding out his hand to you. You stared at it nervously for a moment before reaching out and giving it a weak shake.

 

Papyrus gave you a kind smile before bustling into the kitchen. "Because you are new here, you must not have tasted my amazing, delightful spaghetti! I shall make it for you now so that you may see the light!"

 

You raised your eyebrows; Sans wasn't kidding about the spaghetti thing. "I'd love to try it, Papyrus."

 

Papyrus immediately seemed to brighten up more at your words, and for some reason, his happy expression made you feel lighter. "So, how did Sans find you, human?"

 

You blinked. What were you supposed to say? You weren't exactly down to tell Sans' seemingly sweet and innocent brother that Sans had found you trying to jump off a bridge. "I, um-" You started nervously.

 

"i put out this ad and she answered it." A deep voice answered from behind you. You turned in your seat to see that it was Sans, who was yawning widely. He took a seat next to you and offered you a tired grin. "so, how'd you sleep?"

 

"Fine," You lied.

 

Sans reached out a finger and gently poked at the skin under your eyes, "doesn't look like it. was the bed not comfy?"

 

You blushed and turned away from him, opting to watch Papyrus stir the noodles. "The bed is great, I just have a hard time sleeping sometimes."

 

Sans nodded, thankfully letting the topic go. "if you want we can go to my nice cream stand later today."

 

You raised your eyebrows curiously. "What's nice cream? And I thought you were a scientist?"

 

"i am," Sans nodded, "but i like making some spare cash."

 

"Do not be mistaken, new roommate! He merely dozes off there!" Papyrus added.

 

You smiled, "You know what? I'm not surprised."

 

Sans put a hand to his chest and made an expression of mock hurt. "the two of you wound me."

 

"You still haven't told me what nice cream is."

 

"i know. you'll just have to find out. will you go?"

 

You sighed dramatically. "Well the curiosity is eating me away. I guess I'll just have to go."

 

Sans merely gave a grin in response as whatever he might have said was cut off by Papyrus putting down a large bowl of spaghetti. He went and got plates for the three of you and plopped generous amounts of spaghetti for all of you. It smelled delicious, and remembering that you hadn't eaten anything so you dug in. The meal was filled with amicable chatter between the three of you. You couldn't remember the last time you had a comfortable conversation like this.

 

"Why," You gave Sans a disgruntled look, "Are you putting ketchup all over the spaghetti?"

 

Sans gave you a sly smile. "because it's fuckin' bomb, you wanna try?"

 

You stared nervously at the ketchup bottle and speared a small bit of spaghetti. "Fine, I'm trusting you."

 

Sans' smile widened and he poured a large amount of ketchup onto your bit of spaghetti. You grimaced before putting it in your mouth and chewed once before you immediately started choking. Sans sympathetically rubbed your back but you could tell he was trying to hold back laughter. "I trusted you!" You exclaimed. "Papyrus did you see what he did?"

 

Papyrus gave you an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, _____! I was too busy with my spaghetti! But I firmly believe that whatever my brother did was wrong, as it usually is!"

 

You rubbed at your watery eyes and Sans actually did look sorry now. "hey, you okay? i'm sorry."

 

"You should be sorry," You grumbled, but offered him a smile of assurance.

 

"i'm sure karma will  _ketchup_ with me," Sans had a shit-eating grin on his face.

 

You groaned.

 

After you were all done with the spaghetti, Papyrus and you decided to clean up and wash the dishes while Sans lazed about on the couch. You enjoyed talking to Papyrus. You had never met anyone before who seemed so purely good-you couldn't find a single thing about him that wasn't genuine. After you were done you went up to Sans, who looked like he had fallen asleep. You hesitated, your hand reaching out to him before you shook his shoulder gently. 

 

His eyes opened immediately. "you ready to go?"

 

"Yes!" You nodded, feeling excited about trying this "nice cream" thing.

 

He stood up and held his arms out to you, and this time, you wrapped your arms around him as well.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if there are any errors :)


	4. The Parentals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> really short chapter, you and sans just get more chill and friendly with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

Sans phalanges slid down your sides as he let go of you. You could feel them through your shirt. 

 

He probably didn't mean anything by the movement, but-

 

"c'mon it's that way." Sans nodded in the direction of the nice cream stand at the corner of the park. You followed him there without much chatter from either of you, though you blushed vibrantly whenever your fingers briefly brushed his hand from getting too close.

 

"if you want to hold my hand, you can just ask," Sans was smirked.

 

Your blush got deeper as you took a large step away from him, nearly to the edge of the sidewalk. "Haha, you wish."

 

Sans wrapped an arm around you and gently pushed you to the side so that he would be on the part of the sidewalk closest to the street. You rolled your eyes. "I'm not going to jumping in the street, if that's what you're worried about."

 

Sans grinned, "i have no idea what you're talking about."

 

You shook your head as you stared ahead at the ground. "Do all monsters care so much?"

 

When there was no response you looked up at Sans. There was a light dusting of blue on his face. Was he...blushing? "a monster's soul is composed of love, mercy, and compassion. but no, not all monsters care so much."

 

He was looking at you with that unreadable gaze that you were starting to grow familiar with, that unreadable gaze that never seemed to fail to make you blush. "What is it?"

 

Sans looked forward quickly and shrugged. "nothing."

 

"You know," You started, trying to shake off the awkward silence, "I forgot souls were a thing."

 

"i imagine in your state, you'd forget a lot of things."

 

You ignored him and plowed on. "What is my soul made of?" 

 

Sans hesitated. "it's incredibly personal to see someone's soul-unless if we're about to have an all out battle or something. which, if you're into that-we can do that too." He was smirking by the end of the sentence.

 

You rolled your eyes. "Surprisingly enough, I'm not into that. Thanks, though."

 

By now the two of had reached the nice cream stand which was basically just a large freezer advertising regular looking ice-cream with an umbrella on top. "This just looks like an ice cream stand?" You asked, your brows furrowing.

 

Sans walked around to the other side and fidgeted for a few moments before pulling out a small package and handing it to you. You took it with a soft murmur of, "Thank you," and tore the package open. Inside was an ice cream bar. You took a tentative lick of the ice cream. As expected, the ice cream was sweet and delicious; what was not expected was the ice cream telling you, "You are kind and you deserve good things!"

 

Your eyes widened and looked up to Sans, who just had an amused expression on his face. "It-It just-?"

 

You took several more licks, enjoying the compliments that were thrown at you by the nice cream. As you took your final lick of the sweet treat, this time the it said, "You're very beautiful!"

 

"it's right, you know." You looked up again at Sans who had a gentle smile on his face. 

 

It was no surprise that you blushed again. "Thank you, Sans."

 

"no problem, i'm an  _ice_ guy." His smile had become playful.

 

You groaned. "That one was really bad. The worst one so far."

 

"man, you are one _icy_ girl."

 

You rolled your eyes, and seized with a moment of bravery, grabbed his hand. He didn't pull away. In fact, to your slight annoyance, he seemed completely relaxed. "How does this work?" You asked, bending his phalanges forward and backwards.

 

"how does what work?" His voice was filled with laughter.

 

"Your hand. You. How are you not falling apart?"

 

He used the hand that wasn't being played with to do a very lazy jazz hands move. "it's all magic."

 

"How does your magic work, do you just teleport?"

 

"gotta  _hand_ it to to 'ya, you're quite curious about these things."

 

You laughed and ran a finger over the back of his hand. You didn't miss the slight shiver. "I've never had a monster friend! I want to know about these things!"

 

Before Sans could speak further, your phone started to play its ringtone. You pulled it out of your pocket and immediately paled.

 

It was your parents.

 

"what is it?" Sans asked, concerned.

 

You held your hand up and turned away from him and selected the receive button on your phone "Hello?" You said, shakily.

 

"Your grades have come in." A stern voice said from the other end. Your mother. 

 

You nodded, though you knew she couldn't see. "Yeah. Yeah, they did."

 

"You failed all your classes."

 

"Yeah, I did."

 

"I'm going to need you to fix this. We're paying for you to go to a top-notch university, and you just wasted a quarter, just like that. You  _will_ fix this or you have no idea what kind of trouble you'll be in." There was a click from the other end. Your mother had hung up. You didn't realize you were crying until a skeletal hand appeared from your side and wiped a tear away.

 

"what happened?" Sans asked softly.

 

"It was my mother. She was really upset about my grades." You whispered brokenly. You turned around suddenly and wrapped your arms around Sans, burying your face into his shoulder. He froze for a moment, before you felt him slowly reach his arms up and wrap them around you. 

 

"How can I want to live when they're like this? How can I want to do anything at all?" You cried into his shoulder.

 

Sans arms tightened around you and you felt him start rubbing slow circles into your back. "don't worry, we'll fix this."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm debating whether or not to make this story a slow burn, what do you think? i write really out of order so i have like super fluffy chapters written already and i'm itching to post them haha
> 
> let me know if there are any errors :)


	5. Cozy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SELF-HARM TRIGGER
> 
> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

Sans had teleported you back and immediately started making some calls. Apparently, he informed you, there was a thing you could do called Retroactive Term Withdrawal to erase your last term. All you had to do was write a personal statement. 

 

"i'm good friends with one of the professors in the committee that reads the personal statements, you got this," Sans slapped you on the back-surprisingly hard for a skeletal hand.

 

You nervously massaged the cup of hot chocolate Papyrus had made for you. "How am I going to write that statement? How am I going to talk about the bridge? And then your friend is gonna know about it! What if this friend of yours comes over to your place? What if your friend teaches one of my classes? What if-?"

 

"hey, hey, hey!" Sans rubbed your shoulder comfortingly, "these statements are a really personal thing so she's not gonna share it with anyone. and anyways, you don't need to mention the bridge incident okay?"

 

"Is that what we're calling it now? The bridge incident?" You asked wryly.

 

Sans winced. "sorry, i'm worse than asgore."

 

"Worse than who?"

 

"ah, nevermind, that's just the king of monsters," Sans said casually.

 

"You know the king of monsters?!" You exclaimed, momentarily forgetting your pressing worries.

 

Sans shrugged. "we're not really pals or anything, we just came out of the underground at the same time, and some of my friends are friends with him-you know how it goes."

 

You stared at him disbelievingly. "No I don't know how it goes. Can I meet him?"

 

"sure," Sans nodded, "the get-together next week is gonna be at our place so you can meet all our friends." 

 

You gave him an anxious smile, "Would that really be okay? I don't want to impose..."

 

Sans knocked his shoulder with yours and gave you a playful smile, "listen now, you're our friend, capiche?"

 

Your laughter sounded a little high-pitched and unnatural. "Alright, boss." You slid off the bar stool. "I'm gonna go to my room and take a nap...and try to figure out my plan for the personal statement." As you started walking back towards your room, you stopped and turned to face Sans.

 

He was already looking at you. His cheeks colored blue immediately at being caught staring and you couldn't help the shy smile it brought to your face. "Thank you for sorting everything out, Sans."

 

He coughed and spoke gruffly, "yeah no problem, got your back."

 

\---

 

You you got to your room, you frantically searched for the box. You finally found it in your closet and you tore it ope, revealing three clean razors inside along with band-aids and other first aid essentials. You picked up the razor with a sigh of relief. 

 

Your arm was itching.

 

You raised the blade up slowly and pressed it gently against your arm. The cold steel was a stark contrast to your skin. Just as you were about to-

 

A loud knocking made you drop the blade back into the box. "C-coming!" You called out shakily. You closed the box and shoved into the wardrobe. For good measure you piled a large amount of clothes on top of it. What were you thinking? After Sans just saved you? You shook your head and got up to open the bedroom door.

 

It was Sans. "at the risk of sounding clingy," He shot you a grin, "i feel like it might be a bad idea to leave you alone right now. do you want to come to grillby's with me?"

 

You raised your eyebrows. "What's Grillby's?"

 

Sans groaned and grabbed your wrist, pulling you close to him without warning. "oh fuck," He groaned, his breath coming out in gentle wisps on your neck, "i gotta expose you to grillby's"

 

And with that, the two of you disappeared.

 

You reappeared in front of what seemed to be a very cozy looking bar. "c'mon," Sans said, nudging your shoulder with his, "let's go in. you'll love it."

 

You gingerly followed his lead. You didn't always feel comfortable in places like bars-the atmosphere was too social. However, Grillby's quickly proved to be different. It was very clearly a monster establishment and immediately several of the monsters inside yelled out greetings to Sans and shot you curious looks. However, none of them bothered to come up to you or stare. 

 

"This is place is kinda cozy," You said, sitting down on the bar stool next to Sans.

 

Sans shot you a grin before motioning to a bartender-who, to your shock, was seemingly made entirely of fire. "Grillby, this is _____. _____, Grillby," Sans introduced the two of you. You realized that this must be the owner of the bar as well.

 

"Nice to meet you," You offered him a wide smile, which he nodded back to.

 

"what do yo want to get?" Sans asked you.

 

"Um...can I get a Mangorita?" You asked, not sure if Grillby would serve human drinks. 

 

However, Grillby simply nodded and turned to look at Sans. "the usual."

 

You watched Grillby prepare the drinks but your mind automatically went elsewhere. Had you really been about to do _that_? You glanced at the corner of your eye to Sans, who was telling Grillby some joke. You couldn't do that to Sans. You had only known him for around a day, and yet you already felt so close to him. Maybe you just felt some sort of connection to him because he had tried to stop you from killing yourself. Maybe-

 

"you're thinking too much," Sans' eyes were bright.

 

You laughed. "You're right, I probably am."  Grillby gently set the drink down in front of you and you took a small sip. It was amazing-fruity and sweet. You watched curiously to see what Sans got and saw that it was a very viscous Bloody Mary. You scrunched up your nose. "Is that good?"

 

Sans grinned. "you wanna try it?"

 

"No!" You exclaimed loudly and then took a large gulp of your drink, pointing the glass at him accusingly, "I've learned my lesson with you."

 

Sans was laughing and you were smiling. You never felt more Awake.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if there are any errors :)
> 
> ahhh honestly not too happy with this chapter, i'm sorry!!


	6. Nothing Much Happens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

You spun around on the bar stool at Grillby's, covering your ears. "La la la, I can't hear you!"

 

"oh, very mature," Sans scoffed. He had asked you about your personal statement, and you had responded in a manner that you had considered appropriate.

 

"I don't want to talk about it!" You sang after munching on a fry.

 

"you know," Sans spoke dryly, "depression aside, you are one of the most childish people i have ever met."

 

You flung a fry at him in retaliation. It landed in his eye socket. Sans froze for a moment before gently setting his ketchup bottle down. Your jaw dropped-you hadn't meant for it to land there.

 

"get it out," Sans gritted.

 

You gave him an awkward smile, reaching out for the fry, "Hey, that's what she said." For once you he did not appreciate the joke, his expression only darkening. "Okay, sorry hold on-" You awkwardly fumbled with the fry and it slipped further into his eye socket. Sans made a very odd noise and the situation would have been hilarious if you had been an outsider. "Sorry! Sorry just a second-!" You dug your entire fist into the socket and started searching for the fry.

 

"if you're done _fisting_ my eye socket-" Sans practically growled just as you pulled your hand back out.

 

"Aha! Here is the elusive fry!" You cried out triumphantly. You looked at it curiously before glancing back at Sans, who still looked very disgruntled. 

 

"Do you wash inside your eye socket? Like is that a thing? Can I still eat the fry?" You asked him.

 

"regardless of whether or not i wash inside my eye sockets, don't you think it's kind of fucked up to eat that?"

 

You supposed you agreed with that so you dropped the fry onto the side and continued working your way through the rest.

 

"So," You pointed another fry at Sans, who eyed it warily,"Back to the real reason why we're here. You gotta tell me about your friends so I can be prepared to impress them."

 

"and like i said," Sans grumbled, "you don't need to impress them.

 

Quite frankly, you did need to impress them as all your entire self-esteem depended on whether people liked you or not and you needed the validation that Sans' friends liking you would give-but you weren't about to mention all of that to him. "Well?" You plowed on, "Tell me about them!"

 

He heaved a long, dramatic sigh before continuing. "ok so there's undyne, alphys, toriel, and frisk-frisk is human, by the way. undyne is real intense, and obsessed with working out. alphys is a scientist like me-and she'll be looking at your personal statement, toriel is like...tori's a mom, and frisk is just a kid."

 

You frowned. "To be honest, that didn't help me at all. All I know is that I gotta impress Alphys."

 

Sans was shaking his head before you even finished. "don't try to impress her, she's real shy so you'll just make her feel more nervous."

 

You very nearly dropped your head down on your fries. 

 

\---

 

Apparently everyone brought some type of dish to the little get together party thing. Papyrus had made spaghetti of course, and you had made some chicken drumsticks. What surprised you, was that Sans had also made something-a quiche.

 

"I did not know you could cook!" You practically yelled, you were filled with nervous energy because the guests would be here soon.

 

"that's a thing you know, all skeletons are good cooks," Sans said deviously.

 

"Papyrus! Is that true? Are all skeletons good cooks?"

 

Papyrus looked up from putting finishing touches to his spaghetti. You swore he was picking out individual shreds of cheese and putting them on there. "I wouldn't believe anything my brother tells you _____!" Papyrus exclaimed gravely. "Partially because we're the only two skeleton monsters I know!"

 

"Huh," You said thoughtfully, a little distracted. "There seriously aren't any more of you guys?"

 

"nope." Sans answered, in a voice that decidedly ended the conversation. Before you could ponder on the nature of his tone, a serious of loud knocks started attacking the door.

 

Oh no.

 

Sans barely managed to open the door before a large blue thing dashed through and tackled Papyrus. "Long time no see!" It crowed. Ah, this must be the intense Undyne. After messing around with Papyrus for a few moments, she finally noticed you. "Who's this punk?" She asked suspiciously.

 

You gulped. "I'm the new roommate."

 

"Oho!" Undyne barked a laugh. You didn't know what was so funny. She walked up to you and gave you a hard slap on the back-you would have keeled over had Sans not grabbed your arm and shot Undyne a displeased look. Undyne dismissed the whole affair. "Been hearing a lot about you from Papyrus! Gonna see if you're really as thick-skinned as he says!"

 

Uh-oh. "I'm not thick-skinned. I'm a weak and fragile child."

 

"Ha!" Undyne grinned triumphantly. "That's what I thought! Don't worry punk, I'll turn you into a monster in no time!"

 

Oh no.

 

A quiet, sweet voice was what saved you. "Un-Undyne, let's not bully her." It was the sweetest looking, yellow dinosaur monster you had ever seen. The only one you had ever seen, but that was besides the point. "W-what's your name?"

 

"It's _____, and you?"

 

"M-my name is Al-Alphys. And these are..." She glanced over to a large bipedal goat monster and a small child that just entered the room. 

 

"I'm Toriel, and this is my child Frisk." Toriel's voice was soothing and calm and Frisk gave you a toothy grin.

 

"I'm ______." You couldn't help by smile back at them.

 

"Alright!" Undyne clapped, "Enough with all these weak introductions, I'm starving!"

 

Of course, it was impossible to ignore Undyne, and soon all of you sat down to eat together. Conversation easily erupted from the table as everyone, except perhaps you, Alphys, and Sans, had something to share. You felt a buzzing of bright energy in you from being around all this laughter and happiness. It had truly been a long time since you had been to something like this. You sincerely hoped this monsters would accept you as a friend. 

 

It was a good while later when you were sucking on a chicken bone that you noticed Undyne had a weird smile on her face. You followed the direction of her gaze and noticed Sans watching you with an almost...pained expression on his face.

 

You looked at Sans curiously, if not a little concerned. "Hey, you okay?" You reached out to touch his shoulder and you felt him shudder under your fingers. 

 

"y-yeah. yeah i'm great." 

 

"Okay..." You said slowly and then turned back to give your drumstick another good suck. You swore you heard Sans make some type of strangled sound but when you turned to look at him his expression was just blank.

 

Huh, that was weird.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there are any errors :) There are definitely errors in this chapter!


	7. Trapping Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

They were all down the hall.

 

You were in your room. Crying.

 

Sans had given you a worried look when you had got up to leave, but you had shot him a placating smile that you weren't too sure was convincing. You didn't know why you got like this. It was true that being around people too long exhausted you sometimes, but why did you need to cry about it? Was it because you couldn't find any reason to get along with them? Undyne was boisterous and loud and Toriel had a motherly kindness that you couldn't comprehend. Alphys...Alphys hardly spoke to you. And that was just  _wonderful_ considering the fact that she would apparently be the one to read you statement.

 

You let out an aggravated sigh and pressed the palms of your hands against you eyes, trying to stop the tears from continuing their path down your face. God, why did this happen to you? Why were you so damn emotional about everything all the  _fucking_ time?

 

"What am I even emotional about?" You grumbled brokenly to yourself. Having to write your personal statement? How much your life had changed within the last two weeks? What was it? You tilted your head back at stared at the ceiling. Your eyes stung but you had found this to be a good way to stop the tears. 

 

A quiet knock disrupted your scattered thinking.

 

"Shit," You whispered and rubbed your eyes hard before speaking louder, "C-come in!"

 

The door slowly creaked open to reveal Alphys. She shuffled a few steps in a closed the door behind her. "I-I was w-wondering how you were doing."

 

"I'm doing fine," You replied, puzzled.

 

"I-I'm sorry, I just know sometimes it's difficult to be around people, at least for me." Alphys wrung her hands nervously.

 

Ah.

 

You gave Alphys a small smile and tapped the space next to you. She (a little eagerly) went over and plopped down. "I know what you mean," You spoke slowly, "Sometimes you really need to get away from it all."

 

There was silence, and then she spoke again, and this time sounded braver. "Y-you know, we were really worried about Sans and Papyrus living with a human, because humans can be so, you know-" She froze and her eyes widened; she wrung her hands even more nervously, "No offense to you! You seem great!"

 

You couldn't help the small laugh that escaped from your mouth. "Nah, it's fine, humans can be pretty awful."

 

She waggled her eyebrows, changing the topic so fast you nearly got whiplash. "You and Sans seem to get along really well."

 

You blushed. "Well, we met at an...interesting point in my life. You could say we bonded over that." 

 

Alphys tittered excitedly. "So you know?"

 

"Know what?"

 

"Oh." Alphys deflated. "I guess not."

 

" _What?_ " You insisted.

 

"Nothing!" Alphys was shaking. "I don't even know if-well I'm not sure if I'm-it's just the way the two of you act around each other-you just-the thing is it's old magic so it might not even-you guys might just be really really really-"

 

"Alphys!" You finally interrupted, breaking the monster out of her broken rambling. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

 

Alphys took a deep breath. "Y-you know what? I'm not sure I know what I'm talking about either."

 

Your concerned silence made her reach a hand out hesitantly and squeeze your shoulder. "I should get going. You take care, _____."

 

As Alphys was leaving you could swear you heard her mumble, "That didn't go as planned."

 

\-----------------

 

It was later at night after Papyrus had left for a sleepover with Undyne that you and Sans were washing the dishes together. Well, you were washing and Sans was telling you bad jokes. 

 

"why didn't the skeleton dance at the party?" 

 

"Why?" You asked, you voice slightly pained. You were slowly reaching your limit of bad jokes.

 

"he had no body to dance with!"

 

"Haha."

 

"who was the most famous skeleton detective?"

 

"Who?"

 

"sherlock bones!" Sans was grinning.

 

You groaned. "Can I talk to you about something serious?"

 

Sans' smile dropped. "sure, what's up?"

 

"Well, it's not really serious. It's just that, are we too close?"

 

Sans frowned and there was a spike of hurt in his voice when he spoke next, "do you not want us to be close?"

 

"No, no!" You protested. "I'm glad we're close, I mean, if we're close-I don't know if you think we are." You took a deep breath to calm yourself down. "Alphys just seemed to find it weird."

 

Sans grabbed your hand-which had been drying a dish for too long-and held it in a firm grasp. "i think we're close."

 

"O-oh." You blushed. "Okay. I-I don't know why Alphys was being so weird about it then."

 

Sans let go of your wrist slowly; his phalanges dragged across your skin. "weird how?"

 

It took you a few seconds to collect yourself. "Well, she mentioned something about old magic..?"

 

You noticed that Sans froze for a second. "i don't really know much about old magic, i'm a pretty new guy. did she say anything else?"

 

You wracked your brain for the memories. "Not much else, no."

 

Sans shrugged. "well, all i really know is that old magic is the stuff that any monster is capable of."

 

"What's new magic then?"

 

Sans chuckled. "there's no such thing as 'new magic'. it's just magic."

 

You rolled your eyes. "monsters are weird."

 

Sans shook his head. "no, humans are weird." He paused, and a light blue dusted over his cheeks as he added, "however, somehow, you still manage to be magical."

 

Was he referring to you or humans in general?

 

Rather than asking the question on your mind you scoffed and said, "was that supposed to be a magic pun? it was quite a stretch."

 

Sans shrugged and nudged you. "ah well, can't please everyone."

 


	8. Drops of Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

You weren't sure how you got in this situation.

 

You weren't sure if this was even a "situation."

 

You were on one end of the couch, and Sans was on the other end. The situation was that your feet were on his lap and his hand was draped over them. Originally it had just been you watching television, until Sans did his teleportation thing and just appeared in front of you before lifting up your legs and letting them drop back down on him once he had sat down. Now he was nonchalantly watching whatever show was on while you were internally hyperventilating.

 

It probably wasn't even a big deal. You never had your feet on any of your last roommates' laps, but you and Sans were friends. It was different. This was a friend thing to do right- _oh god was he stroking your ankle?_  

 

Yup, he was. His phalanges were moving up and down the ridge on your ankle slowly, lazily. It created an odd buzz under your skin that was entirely too pleasant. You jolted when you realized your foot was slowly leaning into the contact of his hand. You used your foot to give him what you hoped seemed like a playful shove, but in all honest you were slightly unnerved by what was happening. "I'm ticklish there!" You lied.

 

He smirked deviously. That was not the reaction you hoped for. "oh, you're ticklish are you?"

 

Oh no.

 

"A-ah, I'm not!" You gasped out, pressing your back against the couch, your feet sliding off his lap. You didn't know if you were dismayed or relieved at that happening. 

 

Sans had a predatory grin on his as he crawled closer to you until he was hovering over you, his palms sitting on the armrest your back was against. "you sure about that?"

 

The only thing you were sure of at the moment was that your face was flaming red but you exclaimed, "Yes! Really sure youshouldmovenow-"

 

Your garbled sentence was cut short by Sans ripping his hands off the armrest and and moving them down to your sides where he started a rather expert procedure in tickling. You burst into laughter and tried futilely to shove him off. "N-nooo!" You squealed between wheezes of laughter.

 

After a few more minutes he finally had the mercy to stop, huffing gently above you. The lights in his eyes both soft and bright. "you have a nice laugh. you should use it more often."

 

Surely, you weren't the only one who noticed the proximity between the two of you. "Hard to laugh when all I'm hearing are bad jokes."

 

Sans' eyes bore into you. "ouch," He whispered.

 

"SANS!! _____!!" The two of you sprang apart like you'd been caught committing a crime. Papyrus wasn't even there. You could hear him still rushing out of the kitchen. "Stop your canoodling-" oh, the two of you were definitely canoodling- "and finish washing the dishes! I already did half of them!"

 

"right, bro, we'll get on that." Sans stood up and offered you a hand, which you reluctantly took. He didn't let go until the two of you reached the kitchen.

 

Was that a friend thing to do? Holding hands until you reached the kitchen? Friends did that, right?

 

"you ready to get crackin'?" Sans turned to look at you.

 

You couldn't help but smile. "Hopefully there's no cracking, but yeah."

 

"good one," He grinned.

 

The two of you washed dishes in a comfortable silence until Sans said, "hey, look."

 

As you turned you were met with a face full of dishwater.

 

Oh, boy.

 

He was gonna get it.

 

You squinted at his grinning face for a few moments before ladling some of the water with a large spoon and flicking it at him. He winced, and after a second to collect himself, scooped up a large amount of water in a bowl. "Oh, no," You whispered.

 

"oh, yes," Sans' grin widened as he took a step in your direction.

 

You screamed and took off in the other direction. Contrary to his typical attitude, Sans ran easily and kept up with you. You screamed when you felt the bowl press against your back (you were sure he teleported) and you leaped over the couch so that it was a barrier between the two of you.

 

You were laughing. You couldn't remember the last time you laughed this hard. (Perhaps when Sans was ticking you. Yes, perhaps then.)

 

You couldn't remember being this happy. You wanted it to last so much. This bit of happiness you felt  in this very second, with Sans holding the bowl of water threateningly and you cowering behind the couch, you wanted it to last so badly.

 

However, of course good things always ended too fast for you. Just as Sans threw the water, you noticed something on his left arm. Something that caused you to yell out "Wait!" in a slightly horrified voice. 

 

The water froze midair, and in any other circumstance you might have been heavily impressed by this bit of magic, but now you leaned over the couch so that your top half draped over it and you grabbed Sans' left arm. This caused the bowl to drop, and the water unfroze and landed in it, another impressive bit of magic-or just incredibly good luck.

 

"What's this?" You asked examining the gouge-like marks indented on the bone.

 

Sans shrugged, and when you met his eyes, he looked puzzled. "these marks just appeared at random times. they hurt like hell too. i went to alphys to ask about them but she was just as clueless. it was worrying because i only have-well they just hurt a lot."

 

You stroked the marks and ignored the way his arm shivered under your touch. "Does it still hurt?" You asked in a quiet, shaking voice.

 

You were terrified.

 

"nah, they only hurt for a bit when it first happens before it stops."

 

It was a little different because he was made of bones.

 

"That's good."

 

But you had the exact same type of scars on your left arm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU KNOW WHAT I FEEL LIKE i feel like everyone reads the first chapter and are like "huh this is okay" and gives me a kudos and then the quality goes steadily downhill from the first chapter and y'all are like shit i can't take my kudos back now YOUR KUDOS IS MINE NOW :)


	9. Drunk Cities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

Two days had gone by since the incident.

 

Well, there was no way in  _heck_ that you were going to tell him about that.

 

Anyways, you didn't even know if what you were thinking was right. So what if both of you had matching scars on your arms? So what if those scars hurt him like hell when they appeared? So what if both of your scars might be connected in some weird way? There was no way in  _heck_ you were going to tell him. 

 

He would think you were trash.  Worthless. Seeking attention.

 

He had been the one to stop you from killing yourself when so many cars had just passed you by. You didn't want to lose the fast yet strong friendship that you had with him over something like this. You wouldn't. You couldn't. In retrospect, you wondered if you had even wanted to die, considering how easily you had back down. Maybe you were just an attention-seeker. Worthless. Trash. 

 

Your vision started to get blurry and dark from the peripheral. 

 

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath and while staring with your hands, started clenching and unclenching your muscles. You knew what the signs of a panic attack were. After god knows how long of doing the relaxation exercises your therapist had taught you, you curled up in your bed and started crying.

 

You cried because you were broken, and you didn't know why. You cried because you couldn't find the will to live, and you didn't know why. You cried because you were always  _so goddamn tired,_ and you didn't know why.

 

You wanted to call Sans, ask him to comfort you, ask him to use his magic to somehow make everything better. But you knew it didn't work that way. If this kept going on, all you'd have is his pity-not his bad jokes, his goofy smiles, his sly touches, his-

 

You sighed and squeezed your eyes shut, allowing the last few tears to drip down the side of your face.

 

You needed a drink.

 

You got up, and with a burst of energy that could only be brought about by the motivation of alcohol, you raced to the kitchen. You boisterously started opening and closing cabinet doors searching for liquor.

 

You froze. Did skeletons even drink? 

 

Before you could spend much time pondering on the question Papyrus burst into the kitchen and stared at you with a concerned gaze. "_____! Hello-I-er-"

 

You stared at him expectantly. "Yes?"

 

"Well, it's just that-you look-were you crying?!"

 

You very nearly groaned. You had forgotten to wash your face. "Oh shit, no Papyrus," You tried to scramble for some type of lie, "My room's a little dusty and I got some dust in my eye." 

 

Papyrus stared at you silently for a moment and you gave him what you hoped was a very convincing smile. "Well, alright _____!" He gave you a blinding smile, "What are you up to then?"

 

"I...." You trailed off, thinking carefully. "Do you have anything to drink?"

 

Papyrus nodded vigorously. "Water! We also have orange juice!"

 

You shifted on your feet. "Anything else?"

 

"No, ______!" Papyrus looked confused.

 

"Oh. Okay." You spoke awkwardly. "You know what Papyrus? I think I'm gonna go take a walk outside, clear my head and stuff."

 

"Alright, but...______. We are...we care about you. Sans and I, we, I know it hasn't even been that long but we do care greatly for you. It is just...it is how it works for monsters, I suppose. We care easily."

 

You tried to swallow the lump in your throat. You were _not_ going to cry again. "I-thanks, Papyrus. It's how it works for some humans too. It is how it works for me."

 

Papyrus gave you that same blinding smile again, and in one giant step, had wrapped up in his arms in a tight hug. "You go on your walk, human!" You winced, his voice was back to its usual volume.

 

You had nearly forgotten about the drinking. Maybe magic could make you all better. But still. Alcohol. "Yeah, I think I'll go now.'

 

\------

 

You had gone to the first bar you saw, which ended up being Grillby's

 

"Another shot!" You called out. Grillby looked at you doubtfully-you didn't know how he did it, he had no distinct facial features. 

 

"no more shots for her grillbz," Said a very welcome, yet unwelcome voice from behind you. 

 

You turned around in your bar stool. "Sans! So good to see you here, baby." He immediately blushed blue, and you decided right then-in your drunken state-that you liked that very much. You wanted to make him blush more. You swung an arm around him and pushed him into sitting on the next bar stool.

 

"are you even old enough to drink?" He snatched the shot meant for you and downed it. 

 

"They don't even card here." You pointed out.

 

Sans glared at Grillby and the monster merely shrugged back. Sans grabbed your wrist and tugged you up, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! I'm twenty-one, I've told you before!"

 

"i don't care," Sans hissed, dragging you outside, "drinking isn't good in your state."

 

"Oh?" You pulled back, insulted, "And what exactly is my state?"

 

Sans gave an aggravated sigh and ran a hand over his skull. "i'm just saying alcohol is a depressant, it's bad for your health."

 

You could feel tears filling up your eyes. Oh no. Oh god no. "Why do you care this much?" Why did you just ask that?

 

But Sans merely groaned and took the question in stride. "i don't know okay? i just do! i just care about you a fucking lot and i'm not sure why!"

 

You turned around so that he wouldn't see you cry and you felt the world tilt onto its side.

 

"woah, woah, woah," You heard Sans say as he gently grabbed you and swung your arm over his shoulder to support you.

 

"Sorry," You grumbled, "I'm so stupid."

 

Sans sounded like he was trying to hold back a smile. "you're not stupid, you're drunk. which i guess might be the same thing."

 

You scowled and purposely added extra weight to your side, causing Sans to groan again. "You're not helping. Can you teleport?"

 

Sans hesitated, adjusting himself around you. "i'm not sure that's a good idea right now. we're pretty close to our place, we can just walk there."

 

"Nooo," You whined. "Please? Pretty Please with ketchup on top?"

 

You heard Sans mutter sarcastically under his breath, "well, how could anyone resist?" Then he spoke louder, "okay, hold on." He wrapped his arms tightly around you and  _thank god he couldn't see you blushing this hard._ When both of you appeared back at their home, you found yourself with your arms around his neck and your face buried into the fur of his hoodie. 

 

You pulled back immediately and found yourself pitching backwards. Without a change in expression, Sans reached out and smoothly grabbed you around the waist. He scooped you up bridal style and carried you to the couch with ease. You didn't doubt that your entire face probably looked like a tomato by now. This is what you got for trying to make him blush. He set you down gently on the couch and wrapped a throw around you.

 

"i'll get you some water, yeah?" 

 

As he went to leave, you grabbed his wrist. He turned around and looked at you questioningly. "Thank you, Sans." You didn't know if you were thanking him for now, or back then on the bridge.

 

Sans had a small smile on his face. "yeah, i got you."


	10. I'm Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUBSTANCE MISUSE??? MAYBE?? IDK
> 
> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

Your head was lolling off the side of the couch. Papyrus sat on the other end, slouched over. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was sleeping.

 

"That was some. Damn. Good. Spaghetti." You enunciated each word slowly. Talking fast was becoming difficult in your current state.

 

"You are absolutely correct," Papyrus drawled in a very Sans-like manner.

 

Papyrus. Sweet, innocent Papyrus.  He'd been offered some special herbs and spices from some local teenagers to try in his spaghetti, and he had quite happily bought them. Unfortunately he had failed to tell you this story until you were half-way done with your spaghetti.

 

"What are we going to do when Sans gets here?" You whined. You dreaded to think how he'd react to seeing his younger brother high.

 

"Here's what we do, _____" Papyrus leaned over to you and whispered loudly, in a way that only Papyrus could do. "We...take...the spaghetti..."  He trailed off and ominously played with his phalanges.

 

You frowned. "Yes? What comes after?"

 

"Sorry," He smiled patiently, "The silence was for suspense."

 

Apparently you were going to be in suspense forever, because at that moment, you heard the front door open.

 

"Dun dun dun," You said in a deep voice. Papyrus cackled and sat back up.

 

Sans stepped into the living room, looking glorious and professional. "what's up, you guys?"

 

"Knees weak arms spaghetti!" Papyrus exclaimed and you erupted into laughter.

 

Sans stepped closer, eyes shifting between the two of you before finally resting on you with a dark gaze.

 

Great. He had realized Papyrus was high and now you were gonna be in trouble for something that wasn't your fault. 

 

"why are your eyes red? were you crying?" Sans asked urgently.

 

Oh okay. Aw. "Awww," You said this so slowly it sounded like a moan. Sans visible twitched. "Sans." You reached out and pet his cheekbone. "You're so sweet. You're such a darling. It's so nice of you to care." 

 

Sans gingerly laced his fingers with the ones you had resting on the side of his face and he gently slid your hand off. "you weren't crying, were you?" He looked like he already knew the very unpleasant answer.

 

"No," You replied with a sigh, your voice heavy with guilt.

 

"papyrus?" Sans turned to his brother, his expression bordering on desperation.

 

"It wasn't her fault, Sans," Papyrus drawled again and Sans nearly fell over.

 

"paps, your voice," Sans said weakly.

 

You thought this was all a bit dramatic. "So some kids gave Papyrus some herb for his spaghetti and he tried it out. Done."

 

"no, not done. you put weed in the spaghetti." Sans accused.

 

"I put weed in the spaghetti," Papyrus clarified helpfully, raising his hand.

 

"paps, you shouldn't even know what weed is!" Sans exclaimed.

 

"_____ explained it all to me when we started to, as you say, 'feel it'."

 

You winced as Sans turned his glare onto you. "Look, he needed to know what was happening to him!" You attempted to explain.

 

Sans looked a mixture of horrified and exasperated. "paps...just go to bed. Your magic will burn the effects off soon enough." Papyrus made minimal complaints as he trudged up to his room. Meanwhile, you stared up at Sans with doleful, bloodshot eyes.

 

"I'm sorry," You mumbled pitifully. 

 

Sans sighed and pinched the bridge above his nasal cavity. "i'm not mad at you. it's actually kinda funny. this has to be the  _high_ point of my day."

 

You rolled your eyes at his bad pun and patted the seat next to you. "Sit," You commanded.

 

"as milady wishes," He said sarcastically before plopping down next to you. 

 

"So you didn't have a good day? What happened?" You felt an almost uncomfortable urge to rest your head on his shoulder.

 

"some experiments..." He waved his hands around vaguely, "aren't really working in our favor." 

 

In a burst of marijuana-induced bravery you stroked the crown of his skull. It was a display of comfort-nothing more, you told yourself. Sans closed his eyes at the contact and took in a shuddering breath. "I really wish I could help, but I'm stupid."

 

Sans made an aggravated sound in the back of this...throat bones? You really needed to learn the names of these things if you were gonna get used to living with skeletons. "you're not stupid. that's the marijuana speaking, you know that's also a depressant."

 

"Hmm..." You smiled lazily, "That doesn't seem like sound science."

 

Sans scoffed. "you're not making sense."

 

"See? Stupid."

 

"not stupid."

 

"Stupid."

 

"not stupid."

 

"Not stupid."

 

"ha!" Sans rolled his eyes. "nice try, sweetheart." You immediately blushed at the use of the pet name and of course Sans took notice. "you okay? pot can have really bad effects on you-like paranoia and-"

 

"I'm fine, Sans. Thank you." You gave him a small smile. You weren't about to tell him you couldn't handle some playful teasing.

 

Sans turned towards you suddenly and looked at you seriously. "before all this pot nonsense happened i was meaning to talk to you about something."

 

Uh oh. He wanted you to move out-he was done and tired of you after just three weeks; you were so pathetic that you couldn't keep friends for even- "i wanted you to come check out the lab with me. we're doing some experiments on souls, and i think it would be interesting to have you there. they experiments aren't harmful or anything otherwise i wouldn't let you near them but-"

 

"Yes!" You said, a little too excited. Too excited that it hadn't been what you had expected him to say. Too excited that he kept wanting you to be more and more a part of his life.

 

"okay," Sans replied, raising a brow bone, "we'll go check it out in a few weeks, yeah?"

 

And then in another spurt of bravery you sprawled down on the couch and rested your head on Sans' lap. After that spaghetti, you needed a good rest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had one edible in my entire life so i'm not sure if this is even possible BUT let's just pretend it is for the sake of storytelling.


	11. Just A Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

It was done. Your personal statement. You had slaved over it for hours, you'd had Sans read over it-you'd done just about everything you could do to make it seem good enough to get through to the committee. Now all that was left was submitting it. You closed your eyes and fell back on your bed. You couldn't do it. How were you supposed to walk into the office and hand-

 

"we can just give it to Alphys, you know? that way you don't need to go into the office." It was Sans, he was leaning casually against the doorway with a small smile on his face.

 

You sat back up and frowned at him. "How long have you been here?"

 

He grinned and walked into the room. "long enough to guess what was wrong. may i?" He motioned at the bed.

 

You nodded and moved your laptop to the side so that he could sit down. "i was thinking we'd do something fun to distract you from what's coming up."

 

"What's coming up," You quoted him sarcastically, "You make it sound like my life is ending."

 

He winced and glared at you. "don't joke about that."

 

"Sorry," You mumbled, abashed.

 

"no bones about it," Sans grinned, getting up, "let's go play the sims in my room."

 

"what does that even mean..?" you grumbled, following after him. You could practically  _hear_ his grin get wider. You forgot about the weird phrase he just used quickly when you realized you had never been to his room. Was this you going up to friendship level 2?

 

"you are way past friendship level 2." Sans turned to you with a smirk. You told yourself you were blushing because you accidentally said that question out loud, not because his voice was so deep and beautiful and ero-... _and stuff_.

 

You gave an embarrassed cough as Sans opened the door to his room. "Fair enough."

 

Sans room was...messy. But messy with style. There were piles of things-most likely scientific things-set around the room in decorative patterns. In a corner on the side of the bed there was a large bookcase that didn't look organized whatsoever. And speaking of his bed-it was just a mattress with two sheets spread haphazardly over it. He had a large fancy monitor and keyboard on a table against the wall opposite that of the bookcase.

 

"so, what do you think?" He asked.

 

"It's...nice." You weren't sure if you were lying.

 

Sans chuckled, walking towards his monitor and motioning for you to follow him, "i'd like to think it's minimalist."

 

You laughed. "That's another word for 'I really need to decorate'."

 

 "yeah, yeah, whatever." Sans sat on the chair and moved to the side so half of it was empty. "you can sit here."

 

You raised your eyebrows. "Next to you?"

 

He raised his brow bones back. "i know monsters are gross and all but..."

 

You rolled your eyes. "Oh, shut up. I don't think I'll fit."

 

"c'mon," Sans grabbed your hand and gently pulled you into the seat, "it's not like i have a big ass or anything. see? you fit fine."

 

You were blushing. "You don't even have an ass," You mumbled.  Yes, you fit fine, but you were also pressed tightly against Sans' side. You could very nearly feel all the individual bones that made up his rib cage through his shirt.

 

"ok cool, let's just start." Sans was buzzing with excitement, and this did nothing to ease the warm friction between the two of you. "have you ever played before?" He asked as the game loaded up.

 

You shrugged. "I can't remember. Have you?"

 

"nah," Sans shook his head, "i don't have much time for video games and stuff."

 

After the blue loading screen finally vanished away, another screen appeared. This one featured a seemingly human-looking creature. You thought this in such a manner because you definitely did not trust its glassy, emotionless eyes. "I think we get to create our people now."

 

"there's no monster option," Sans sounded crestfallen as he scrolled through the choices.

 

You felt a small rage towards the game developers on his behalf. "Aw, I know, but there's a werewolf and vampire option!"

 

Sans frowned, "those don't count as actual monsters though."

 

"Well, I'm sure they'll make an option for monsters by the next game. Look! Let's make Papyrus a fairy!" 

 

Sans grinned, for once easily distracted. "oh are we making us? do i get to make a human version of myself?"

 

"Sure," You smiled, feeling excited. That is, until Sans put his hand over yours on the mouse and dragged the nose slider down so that Papyrus barely had a nose bridge. "H-hey!"

 

Sans glanced at your blushing face and snickered, but didn't remove his hand. if anything you felt him squeeze it. "what? we don't have a nose, so i'd think that the human versions of us wouldn't have ones either.

 

You shook your head, a fond smile on your face as the two of your worked on creating Papyrus together. You nearly forgot that his hand was over yours-but every few minutes his bones would press against your skin in a strangely enticing way and you were back to a blushing mess. A part of you was sure he was doing it on purpose. 

 

After you were done with Papyrus, the two of you went on to Sans and then you. Sans didn't take long to create but for you-oh, you. He had the time of his life playing around with the breast slider, making your sim's boobs gigantic and small, and then back again until you smacked him and set the slider somewhere in the middle. Finally, only after you had picked out the perfect shades for your clothes and Sans had pointedly yawned for the third time did you actually leave the customization screen.

 

The two of you only had enough money to buy a tiny home-and honestly, the place looked like a hovel. "this is what our last place looked like," Sans said quietly. 

 

You looked at him in amazement. You could hardly believe that he had to live in a place like that, especially compared to what he had now. "yeah," He laughed bitterly, "you know things were really hard for monsters when we first got out, right?" You nodded. "well, all our gold didn't count for shit and we had to buy this tiny apartment. it was only after frisk managed to get us all our rights did things start to get better. i got my degrees accredited and became a scientist at the university with alphys and was able to afford this place. it's great for rubbing into the faces of all the monster-hating scum we used to meet back in the day." He sighed. "things used to be real tough." His phalanges were lazily traveling up and down your hand, which was still holding on to the mouse.

 

"Sans, I'm so sorry things were hard. And that you had to live like that." You turned your face to him and tried your best to give him a comforting smile.

 

Sans gazed at you, the lights in his eyes were incredibly intense.  He leaned an inch closer. "it's okay. things are okay now." Why was he whispering?

 

"That's good." Why were  _you_ whispering?

 

"I'M HOME!" That was Papyrus. Yelling.

 

You let out a little squeak and would have fallen off the chair had Sans not gripped you tightly around the waist and pulled you back up. "I-I-um-"

 

"let's go see what my bro's up to, yeah?" His phalanges gently slid from your waist with the smoothness of a pro, but the smile he gave you was shaky.

 

You didn't even get to start playing.

 


	12. Running on Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my chapter titles are super fake-deep and make 0 sense
> 
> also this chapter is really short i'm sorry my children :(

It was the middle of the night.

 

You were there again.

 

At the bridge.

 

You weren't sure what the point was of coming here, you didn't have any  _plans._ You stared at the large expanse of water in front of you, they way it blended in with the darkness of the sky and seemed to for a black abyss. You found yourself getting lost in it, and you took a step closer. But no, it wasn't all black was it? There was a sprinkling of stars glittering over the sky, and they grounded you. It was like Sans' eyes-two bright lights that shined at you from a pool of black.

 

"what are you doing here?" Speak of the devil.

 

You gave a small shriek and took a few steps back towards the bridge. Sans blipped out and appeared right in front of you, a hand on your arm. "what's wrong? are you okay?"

 

"I'm fine!" You shrugged him off. "What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?"

 

Sans hesitated before answering. "i may have followed you."

 

"You followed me? Dude, that's so creepy?"

 

"yeah well, i'm glad i did! why are you at this place anyways?"

 

"Maybe I just wanted to admire the view!"

 

"i am the view!"

 

You cackled with laughter, putting your hand on the railing to support yourself. If his intention was to distract you from the fact that he had followed you, he was succeeding. "That was a good one."

 

Sans eyed your hand warily. "ok cool, now back away from the bridge."

 

You rolled your eyes and took a few steps back so that you stood next to him. "You know I won't try anything, right? You don't need to be worried."

 

Sans sighed and grabbed hold your hand. "i can't help it. i'm gonna worry anyways."

 

"Why?" You asked, furrowing your brows, "We've only known each other for a few weeks."

 

"are you denying our friendship?" Sans looked amused more than anything else, and that only frustrated you more.

 

"No! I'm not! I'm saying it's not fair that we're such good friends when I've known people for years and barely talk to them!"

 

Sans laughed and used his other hand to ruffle your hair. "how about you stop questioning blessings, huh?"

 

"You're not a blessing," You grumbled, fixing your hair.

 

He grinned easily. "sure darling, whatever you say. how about we head back, hm?" He tugged your intertwined hands in the direction of his-and maybe yours as well-home. You followed after him, thankful for the darkness that covered your blush as he started to rub small circles into the back of your hand.

 

"your classes start in two days. are you ready?" He asked conversationally.

 

"As ready as I'll ever be. You know my parents think I'm a failure for taking art classes, right?"

 

"fuck your parents." Sans ground out.

 

You sighed. "I love them. They did everything for me. They worked their asses off to give me a better life. They just...want me to maintain it."

 

"i know, i'm sorry." Sans squeezed your hand. "if they aren't willing to support you financially, i can do that."

 

Your eyes widened as you gazed at him. "Really? You'd do that?"

 

Sans nodded. "i don't mind being your sugar daddy."

 

"Oh, shut up!" You laughed.

 

You two walked in silence for awhile, your joined hands swinging between the two of you. "tell me more about your parents," He said suddenly.

 

"Well, currently they aren't talking to me." You smiled tightly. "But they care about me more than anything else. My mom is an amazing cook and my dad sometimes has to stay up all night working. They don't seem like it but they're really open-minded people."

 

"how do they feel about monsters?" Sans asked lightly.

 

"They're cool about you guys." You shrugged. "They honestly don't have strong emotions about anyone or anything except for me."

 

"that must put a lot of pressure on you."

 

You nodded. "It does. I'm used to it."

 

"you shouldn't have to be used to it."  Sans lets got of your hand to unlock the door. You immediately missed the gentle thrumming of his magic against your hand.

 

"Thanks, Sans." You couldn't help but smile.

 

"no problem," He said, leading you in, "i got your back." 

 

You sit down and sprawl lazily on the couch and Sans gently picks your feet up so that he can sit down as well and then allows your feet to rest on his lap in a very familiar position. Except this time you felt comfortable and at ease; you could hardly care that this might not be a friend thing to do.

 

"you wanna watch a movie?" Sans asked, the TV remote floating in front of him in a haze of blue glow.

 

A pillow hovered over to your side and you lifted your head so that the pillow could slide underneath. "Thanks. And yeah."

 

"sound of music is the only thing on. you down for that?"

 

You nearly squealed. "I am so down for that!"

 

 

You fell asleep in two minutes.

 

And you woke up in your bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans might be lowkey yandere


	13. Waking Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr badtimesforall/badtiems if you wanna talk and stuff

_Dear _____,_

 

_Your personal statement and supporting documents have all been accepted. Please understand that this is a one-time chance and an opportunity like this will not come again. We hope that you use this to improve yourself and your grades and become a successful student at at our university. Please feel free to use all our facilities to your advantage so that you may succeed._

 

_Sincerely,_

 

_The Office of Registrar_

 

"Oh my god," You whispered. "Oh my god," You said louder. "Oh my god, Sans!" You leaped out of the bed and ran out of your room, trying not to lose your footing. You burst into Sans' room only to see that he had no shirt on and was only clad hip-down in a long, fluffy towel. 

 

"yeah, what's up?" He was casually scrolling through his phone.

 

You barely registered what he said; you could only stare. Stare at how drops of water slid down thick, hard bones in tantalizing patterns. Stare at how, despite not having muscles, the bones of his arms seemed flexed and sharp. Stare at how dangerously hot he looked.

 

"you okay?" Sans looked up now and his expression seemed highly amused. "what? never seen a skeleton before?"

 

More like 'never seen a hot skeleton before' you thought to yourself angrily. "Shut up," You grumbled. "I was gonna tell you my personal statement was accepted."

 

Sans gave you an easy smile. "well, i'm not gonna say i told you so. but congrats. we should celebrate."

 

"Yeah!" Why did you feel so nervous?  "We totally should!" The truth was, in about ten seconds after reading the email, you had the whole thing planned out in your head: You would run out of your room and into Sans'. He would be doing some nerdy science shit but after hearing the cry of his name he would be getting up-fearful and shocked. You would race into his arms and he would embrace you tightly, asking you what the problem was. You'd tell him there was no problem and that your personal statement got accepted and he'd be so happy for you that the two of you would-

 

"so are you just going to stand there and watch me change? not that i mind, of course." Sans was smirking.

 

"Ugh! Whatever!" You yelled, Sans' laughter chasing you out of his room.

 

This was Sans after all, and such a mental fanfiction would be impossible.

 

\----

 

When Sans said "celebrate" you didn't think he meant taking you to a carnival in the next town over. "Sans you didn't have to do this, Grillby's would have been fine-I have class tomorrow!" You whined for probably the seventh time.

 

Sans merely grinned and grabbed your hand to pull you through a large cluster of people-but then, there was a problem. He continued to hold your hand. It's not like this hadn't happened before; it literally happened yesterday, but for some reason the mood today was different. You didn't want to say this felt like a date but...this felt like a date. 

 

"you wanna go to the fortune teller?" Sans interrupted your thoughts. 

 

"Y-yeah!" You exclaimed, giving him a shaky smile. Sans didn't seem to notice and simply pulled you closer by your linked hands.

 

He led you towards a mysterious-looking tent. It was a deep purple color and in a gaudy sign read "FORTUNE-TELLING." The flap was pushed aside, but it was too dark inside for you to see anything. Sans turned to you with an excited grin, the lights of his eyes sparkling. You couldn't put a finger on why, but his expression, the squeeze of his hand, the  _feeling_ of his hand, his entire aura just made you feel at ease. "What are we waiting for?" You flashed him a smile and with a strength you didn't know you had, you dragged him inside.

 

The only light came from a glowing crystal ball that highlighted the table it was on and two chairs on one side of it. On the other side sat a woman that looked like some witch from a Disney movie. You wondered how much of her look was real. Her gigantic, crooked nose, at the very least, had to be fake. The lady looked up from shuffling some cards and gave the two of you an eerie smile. "Sit! Sit my dears!" The two of you hesitantly sat down across from her. "You two darlings came to have your fortunes read, am I correct?" The two of you nodded and she tittered. A long moment of silence passed as she leered at the two of you, and just as you were beginning to feel uncomfortable, she lunged for your and Sans' hands and set it on top of the crystal ball.

 

"Hey!" You yelled indignantly, trying to tug your wrist out of her grasp. 

 

The fortune-teller only tittered some more. "Now, now dearie, don't move! You don't want to mess up the reading, do you?"

 

"yeah, _____, you don't wanna mess up the reading, do you?" Sans mimicked, snickering at you.

 

You turned your eyes to him to shoot him a dirty look, but you froze when you saw the way the light of the crystal ball reflected over his skull. You could only stare in wonder as the purples and lavenders rippled over his pale bones. He was so damn beautiful.

 

Sans was too busy looking into the crystal ball to notice your staring, but you still felt a gaze on you-the fortune-teller. You scowled as she gave you a sly smile. "Alright, I see something," She said, "You, my...skeletal friend, have had a very tough past."

 

"i wonder what gave that away? not like me being a monster has anything to do with it." Sans muttered sarcastically, and you had to giggle.

 

The fortune-teller continued on like she hadn't heard anything. "You've had to live through the same pain, over and over and over again." Sans' sockets widened, and all the laughter in his expression drained away at that. You wanted to ask him what happened, because clearly this fraud was just spilling buzz words, but the fortune-teller just kept talking. "And you, human. You have also faced much pain. And so much pressure. I would understand if you ever wanted to give up." 

 

You swallowed, your throat suddenly feeling very dry. The fortune-teller gave you a compassionate smile. "But the two of you met each other. And you're meant to be together. Fated, even. You both will save each other, and I can see your that your futures are incredibly intertwined...to the point of being just one future. I see that-"

 

"okay, thank you for that," Sans spoke coldly as he slipped her a five dollar bill. He gently pulled you of the chair and led you out of the tent, ignoring the fortune-teller's complaints about not being done. 

 

"Sans?" You asked softly.

 

He took a deep breath and gave you a tense smile. "sorry, i didn't expect shit to get so real in there."

 

You were still confused, but decided not to pry. Instead you squeezed his hand and said lightly, "Wanna cheat and win me a bunch of prizes?"

 

Sans shoulders relaxed and he grinned at you. "yeah, i'd love that."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of staring going on in this chapter


	14. Two Can Tango

The first week of classes had gone...well. Surprisingly well. You were showered with compliments from your peers in your new art classes. It almost didn't matter that your parents didn't answer your texts. Almost.

 

You would excitedly show Sans and Papyrus anything new you did every day. Papyrus would glow with pride and Sans would find some way to tease you. You couldn't be happier.

 

"hey, so you you look like you're doing something really important," Sans sat down next to you on the couch-you were painting your nails. "but i got a proposal for you."

 

"If you're going to talk to me right now, you best believe you'll be painting these nails while doing it." You made your expression as serious as possible. To your surprise, Sans did not protest and the nail polish applicator floated out of your hand and started brushing your nails in small, precise strokes. You couldn't help but be impressed by this display of magic. "Alright, what's your proposal?"

 

"there's an employee ball coming up and we need to bring a plus one." He paused then, as if unsure how to continue.

 

However, you had a feeling you knew where this was going and you couldn't stop the sly smile from growing on your face. "You need my help finding a date?" 

 

Sans frowned. "i was hoping you'd be my date."

 

Hearing that out loud _should not_ be so satisfying.

 

"Yes!" You coughed. "I mean-yes, I'd like to go."

 

Sans smirked at your little outburst. "great."

 

A thought nicked at you. "Won't it be a little awkward, though? Like they're your coworkers and I'm a student."

 

Sans shrugged. "why would it be awkward? it's not like i'm your professor."

 

You nodded. "Okay, fair enough."

 

Sans cleared his throat. "that's a nice color on your nails."

 

You looked at him oddly, "Yeah...that's why I chose it."

 

"weneedtolearntodance-"

 

You raised your eyebrows, trying not to laugh. "I'm sorry, come again?"

 

Sans sighed and ran his phalanges over his skull, making a scraping sound. "we need to learn to dance for the ball."

 

Your eyes widened. "Oh, hell no."

 

"hell yes," Sans grimaced. "i was thinking Papyrus would help us practice. he's picking out songs right now."

 

"Right now? You were that confident I'd go with you?"

 

He grinned. "nah, i was just hopeful." He opened his mouth to say something more but instead looked down at your nails. "you're all done."

 

You looked down at your nails as well. The difference between what you painted and what he painted was very clear because Sans' work looked absolutely perfect. "Wow, you should be a manicure scientist or something."

 

Sans chuckled. "i don't think that's an actual job."

 

Before you could respond with something snarky, Papyrus came clattering into the living room with a laptop. "Hello everyone! I, The Great Papyrus, have made the perfect dancing mix for the two of you."

 

You and Sans exchanged worried looks.

 

"Now. the two of you get up and I'll show the two of you where to put your hands and feet!"

 

Both of your stood up reluctantly. You doubted your nail polish was even dry yet. Papyrus proceeded to grasp yours and Sans' shoulders and turn both of you so you faced each other. "Very good! Now-" Papyrus grabbed your hand and put it on Sans' shoulder. 

 

Okay, that wasn't too bad.

 

He then grabbed Sans' hand and put it on your waist, where it automatically tightened.

 

Okay, very bad. You immediately started blushing. Of course Sans noticed and he gave you a lazy smile.

 

"Now," Papyrus instructed, "Both of you take your other hands and hold it like this!" Papyrus positioned both of your joined hands perpendicular to the ground. Sans squeezed your hand and snickered as your blush darkened. Papyrus' silence made both of you look at him and you noticed that he was staring at the two of you with an odd smile. "Ahem-moving on!" Papyrus went over to his laptop and pressed a button, causing an upbeat, classical rhythm to start playing. "The two of you shall move like this!" He grasped yours and Sans' shoulders again and forcefully made both of you take steps in different directions.

 

This (rather painful) process continued for around fifteen minutes, after which Papyrus was sure that both of you had gotten the generic movements. "Now do it on your own!" Papyrus commanded, moving back so that he could sit on the couch and watch. 

 

You and Sans took steps gingerly and barely managed to keep up with the beat. You kept looking down, hoping you wouldn't step on his feet. "hey," Sans whispered. His breath smelled minty. You wondered if skeletons needed to brush their teeth.

 

"What?" You whispered back.

 

"i'm gonna twirl you," His eyes shined mischievously. 

 

"Wait what wait no-" Sans went on to execute a perfect twirl and you couldn't help but laugh as you were spun. You heard Papyrus clapping in the background. 

 

Sans pulled you back in closer, much closer than before. Your hands were back in the same position as before but your bodies were pressed tightly together. "i'm a fast learner, huh?"

 

"Please." You rolled your eyes, "I'm the one learning fast."

 

"you stepped on my feet six times."

 

You groaned and dropped your head on his shoulder. "Why are you keeping count?"

 

Sans merely chuckled. You didn't realize when the two of you had stopped with the practiced steps and had simply started moving in slow circles.

 

Papyrus cleared his throat. He had that odd smile on his face again. "You two seem like you'll be perfect at this ball!" He looked oddly gleeful.

 

Sans took a step back, his hands slowly sliding off your waist. "that wasn't too bad, was it?"

 

"No, it wasn't." You smiled softly.

 

You felt so good, so happy. Things seemed to finally be going right. Ever since you met Sans, the broken pieces of your life seemed to be falling into place.

 

Please let the happiness last.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where did Papyrus learn to dance? And reader needs to chill with the blushing.


	15. White Noise

Shopping with Alphys and Undyne was certainly an experience. The two of them were also going to the ball that Sans had invited you to, with Undyne being Alphys' plus one.

 

Undyne kept pulling out interesting, funky outfits while Alphys grabbed at cute, pastel dresses. You on the other hand, could not find shit.

 

"H-hey, _____, I found something cute for you!" Alphys showed off a beautiful dress with minimal ruffles. 

 

You gave Alphys a tight smile. "It's really nice Alphys, but, I don't think it'll suit me."

 

"Are you kidding me? It'll look great on you!" Undyne jumped in.

 

"I don't wear short sleeves," You said.

 

"One time won't hurt!"

 

"No, it's okay, I'll find something else."

 

"C'mon punk! You won't find a better dress! Just give it a shot!" Undyne continued urging.

 

"No!" You said angrily, drawing stares from nearby shoppers. You lowered your voice. "Please stop it, you guys. I don't want to wear it."

 

Alphys fidgeted while Undyne gazed at you with an unreadable look in her eyes. "Okay, punk. We'll help you find something else."

 

You gave an appreciative smile to them as Alphys put the dress back and the couple started searching for something else. Eventually you did find a dress. It wasn't as pretty as the one Alphys found you but you could make it work. It was a deep blue and it hung off the shoulders with long, loose sleeves. If Alphys' squeal was anything to go by, then you must looked quite impressive in it.

 

Undyne drove you back to their place to get ready. As Sans had been the one to teleport you to the mall to meet them, you had never experienced Undyne's driving until now. Suffice to say, it was very different from Papyrus' careful pace. Alphys looked at you sympathetically and gave you a pat on the back once you managed to get out of the car. "You get used to it."

 

Unlike the modern design of the skeleton brothers' home, Undyne and Alphys had a more traditional place. There were tapestries hanging around and an actual knight statue. However, you did not get to admire the aesthetics of their home for long before Undyne whisked you away to the bathroom. She started off by working through your hair, and you had to admit, it felt amazing. You would have expected Undyne to roughly design it into some weird look, but she was actually being really gentle. Alphys came in a moment later with a large black bag and pulled out copious amounts of makeup, which she then proceeded to apply on your face.

 

"D-don't blink so much!" She scolded as she tried to apply some mascara.

 

"Sorry," You mumbled, "You're all up in my eyes."

 

It took over an hour, but the arduous process was finally complete. And so worth it. You touched the mirror as you stared at yourself. Your eyes were large with excitement and your face had a beautiful, healthy flush. Alphys and Undyne truly did an amazing job. You tried to help the two of them get ready as well but Alphys didn't need much prep and Undyne shrugged you off after you messed up her braid for the third time.

 

So you sat still and looked pretty. You had to say, you enjoyed it.

 

Soon enough, there was a knock on the door. 

 

Sans. Sans.  _Sans._

 

You ran to their front door, despite Alphys' protests that you should wait in the back. "Hey," You said breathlessly.

 

"he-woah." Sans froze mid-greeting, his eyes unashamedly scanning you up and down. "you look good."

 

"Oh...thanks" You said, disappointed. Honestly, you thought you looked damn amazing.

 

Sans grinned, gaining composure over himself. He grabbed your hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "you are breathtaking."

 

You felt incredibly flustered at that. "I-I-thanks. Again."

 

Sans looked great as well. The stark contrast between his dark suit and pale bones was pleasing to the eye. "You clean up nice," You complimented him.

 

Sans gave you his typical lazy smile. "i know." He held out his hand to you. "you ready to get going?"

 

You grabbed his hand, smiling widely. You felt excited about this. "Yeah." You barely finished answering before he teleported the two of you away.

 

The two of you appeared in front of a large, posh building that you couldn't recall being part of your university. He raced you up the stairs, still holding your hand, and you held a great suspicion that you not falling over your feet had something to do with his magic. Inside there were several people, many of whom were dancing. Some approached Sans and made light banter with him, and he introduced you to them.  After awhile you spotted Alphys and Undyne among the clusters of people and they shot the two of you smiles and winks from afar. Eventually though, it was just the two of you in a corner near the food.

 

"This is a really pretty event. I feel like a grown-up."

 

Sans spoke gruffly. "you are a grown-up."

 

You rocked yourself back-and-forth on your heels. "You know what I'm talking about right?"

 

"i never know what you're talking about," Sans teased before offering you his hand again. "you wanna dance instead of talk?"

 

You rolled your eyes, but couldn't help the smile on your face. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to." He dragged your to the dance floor and the two of you initiated the position that Papyrus taught you but instead of doing the steps you spun around in slow circles. The music was too slow to do the steps anyway.

 

"a month ago, did you think you'd end up like this?" Sans asked, playfully bumping his forehead against yours.

 

"a month ago, I thought I'd be several feet underwater."

 

Sans winced. "way to kill the mood."

 

You sighed. "Sorry, sorry, I know.

 

"hey, it's okay. let's be proud of the progress you've made so far." In spite of all the teasing and bad jokes, he could just be so sweet sometimes.

 

Once again, the two of you were incredibly close to each other. "Sans...thank you."

 

"yeah, i got your back." He whispered. You barely heard him over the music.

 

Suddenly, you felt your phone buzz in the pocket of your dress. How had you forgotten about it? "Excuse me," You said to Sans, pulling away to look at your phone. He kept a hand on the small of your back.

 

You had seventeen missed calls. All from your mother.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my chapter titles are fake-deep but i was lying they make a lot of sense ;)


	16. Heart Shakes

"I need to take a call." Your voice shook as you spoke. You could go out to the balcony, right? Or-or outside?

 

"you want me to come with you?" Sans asked, concerned.

 

You thought about this for a moment. Did you want Sans to come with you? He'd already been there for one ugly conversation with your mother, what was another? "Yeah...sure."

 

He followed you to the balcony, hand still set on your lower back. "was it your mother?"

 

"How did you know?" You asked, not feeling very surprised. You didn't feel much of anything at this moment.

 

"i'd recognize that fearful look anywhere." You weren't sure if he was joking or not, but you cracked a small smile at that.

 

When the two of you reached the balcony, Sans' hand dropped from your back and he reached for your hand instead, giving it a gentle squeeze. You gave him another smile. You pressed the call button next to your mother's contact info and put the phone to your ear.

 

"_____? Is that you? Oh, god!" Your mother crying was one of the worst sounds you had ever heard. At that very moment, Sans' hand in yours was the only thing that grounded you.

 

"Mother?" You gulped. "What's wrong-why are you-?"

 

"Your father! He was in a car accident!" 

 

Your heart stopped. "What? Is he okay? What's going on?" You were shaking. You felt a familiar feeling in your stomach. It seemed like nothing was holding the world together under you, that the ground was cracking into pieces, breaking apart. Your vision was getting blurry and dark.

 

"He has two broken ribs and a broken leg. He's going to be okay, but I think you should come here." She tried to sound calm now but you could hear her take a deep, shuddering breath.

 

"O-okay, I can-I can do that. Bye?" You practically whimpered out. You could barely talk. Sans was gripping your hand tightly. Your mother didn't say goodbye, but you heard the dial tone, meaning she'd hung up. The phone fell from your hand, though you didn't hear the smartphone shatter on the ground. You would have collapsed as well, had Sans not wrapped a strong arm around you and gently led you to lean against a wall.

 

"what happened?" He asked urgently.

 

"I can't breathe," Was all you managed to gasp out.

 

"___-______ okay, okay, it's okay, it's gonna be okay," Sans said, a little desperately as he tried his best to support you.

 

It wasn't going to be okay. You father was just in a car accident. What if he had died? What if his last memory of you was one of disappointment? What if, what if, what if.

 

"hey, hey, look at me," Sans instructed, "starting with your hands i want you to tighten and loosen your muscles. can you do that for me?"

 

The lights of Sans' eyes were huge and they hypnotized you. You lost yourself in them, in the beauty of their brightness, and found that you didn't need the muscle relaxation exercises to calm yourself down from the imminent panic attack. "My father," You whispered hoarsely, "He was in a car accident. He's okay but-but I need to go see him."

 

"i'll go with you," Sans said immediately, his hand tightening over yours.

 

Your eyes widened. "You-you don't have to-!"

 

"i want to. i want to be there for you." 

 

You gave a harsh, humorless laugh. "I-okay. I'm sorry, I cry too much. Don't I?"

 

Sans phalanges gently rubbed at the corner of your eye. "you do," He teased softly, "but it's fine. i got your back."

 

\-----------

 

You had that itch. 

 

You packed some clothes and your art textbook. You'd only be able to stay during the weekend, so you decided not to take much. Sans was taking Papyrus' red convertible to drive you there. Everything was figured out.

 

Papyrus grabbed you in a warm hug as you and Sans were about to leave. "_____, I promise everything will be okay, your father will get all better! I believe it!"

 

You gave him a tired smile after he put you down. "Thanks, Papyrus."

 

"Sans! You take good care of her! Take good care of each other!" Papyrus said sternly.

 

"will do, bro."

 

The small suitcase you used for your stuff floated out in front of you and into the trunk of the convertible. "That was unnecessary."

 

Sans smirked. "i just think you're carrying around enough baggage already."

 

"Haha."

 

\------

 

The drive there was mostly silent, though it wasn't awkward at all. 

 

But god, was it boring. And all the silence did was make you think about your father more. About all the jokes the two of you shared. how much he wanted you to succeed, how disappointed he was that you were going to be switching your major.

 

"hey," Sans cut into your thoughts. "look at the clouds, they're pretty."

 

You frowned at him and poked his cheekbone until he was facing the road again. "Keep your eyes on the road, sir."

 

"i don't have eyes." Sans grinned.

 

"Whatever, your eye sockets, then."

 

"i wanted to distract you, actually, seemed like you were in a bad place."

 

"What? You mean sitting next to you? I agree, that is a bad place."

 

Much to your dismay, Sans turned his head to face you again. "listen, when you start saying stuff like that, i can't help but think you're trying to deflect from something."

 

You grimaced, and poked his cheekbone again. "I'm thinking of my father. He must be so disappointed in me."

 

"did he say he was disappointed in you?"

 

"No, but-"

 

"then why do you think so?"

 

"Because my mother is disappointed in me."

 

"your mother is confused. and your father and mother aren't the same people, are they? you listen to me, we're gonna go see your father, he's gonna be okay, it's gonna be a nice family visit, and then we're gonna come back. you'll be alright and safe-because i'm a badass."

 

You were smiling by the end of his little speech. "Okay, Sans. Thank you."

 

He nodded, glancing at you for a second out of the corner of his eye sockets. "no problem, i got your back."

 

That did nothing to make the itch go away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so disappointed with this chapter lol but I don't know how to make it better so here you go have at this mess :/


	17. Peeling Skin Off My Face

Seeing your mother again was surreal. You had felt so sure that you had been more-or-less kicked out of the family that you didn't know how to react when you found her arms around you. She wasn't crying anymore, but your shoulder felt a little wet once she pulled back. The smile she gave you dimmed once she noticed Sans over your shoulder. "Who is this?

 

"My friendmate...er, sorry roommate, he drove me here."

 

"sup." Sans greeted.

 

"Oh...I see. What happened to the dorm your father paid for?" Your mother asked, her sad demeanor dropping and replaced with the cold, stern expression that you were familiar with.

 

"I put in some paperwork to move out. We're getting the money back, and I'l transfer it to your account," You explained.

 

Your mother was silent for a long moment, and it took all your ability to maintain a neutral expression. "I guess that is fine." She finally said. "How old are you...sir?" She addressed Sans.

 

Sans gave a small cough and shuffled forward. "i'm twenty-four, er-m'am." If the situation didn't feel so severe, you would have laughed at how nervous Sans sounded.

 

Your mother looked sharply at you. "Twenty-four? How is it possible you're living together?" She turned back to Sans, "Did you fail classes?"

 

"Can I remind you, mother, that you took college classes at the age of thirty-five? And from what I hear, you're very successful." You responded. You didn't realize your fist was clenched until you felt a skeletal hand gently pull your fingers apart and rub your knuckles.

 

Your mother stared down at this interaction with hard eyes. "Your father is sleeping right now, so you might as well wait outside until he wakes up." Your mother led you to some benches and sat down on one across the window. Out of curiosity, you looked in and winced when you saw that it was your father hooked up to several tubes. You felt tears prickle at the corner of your eyes and you took a deep breath before sitting down on the bench. Sans sat next to you and began skimming through the magazine as your mother glanced between the two of you.

 

The silence that ensued was incredibly awkward.

 

You eventually ended up dozing off against Sans' shoulder-not on purpose of course. 

 

\----

 

You jolted awake from what you thought might have been a nightmare. Sans was gone and your mother was staring at you intensely. You glared at her. "Where's Sans?" You asked accusingly.

 

"He went to get food for us!" She looked affronted and you couldn't help but feel a little guilty. However, you didn't apologize for your tone.

 

"You're in love with that boy." This time, your mother was doing the accusing. The words caught you by surprise, and you found air going down the wrong pipe. Your mother stared at you in disdain as you took a few moments to choke it out.

 

"Pardon me?" You finally managed to gasp out.

 

"The skeleton boy, you're in love with him." Your mother repeated. Skeleton boy. You were definitely using that one on him later.

 

"You've got the wrong idea mom-mother. Sans is my best friend."

 

Your mother gave a tired sigh. "I know love when I see it. I just hope you know what you're doing."

 

Your eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

 

"Well, he's a monster and-You know we don't have anything against monsters!" Your mother rushed to explain as you opened your mouth, ready to go off. "You live in a college town and you're all very liberal or progressive or whatever, so I know you don't see it, but monster hate groups have been all over the news lately. They've been attacking couples."

 

"Well, it's a good thing Sans and I aren't a couple," You said, picking at a loose thread on your shirt. Your mother's silence made you look up. She was staring past you, at the window.

 

"I think your father is awake." For the first time, she smiled-and god, was it a beautiful look on her. Her face, which always looked so stern and aged, relaxed and brightened up. For a moment, you desperately wished you could be the reason she smiled. But the moment passed quickly and you got up and entered the hospital room, your mother following after you.

 

"Look at you," Your father grinned. You glanced at your mother out of the corner of your eye and saw she still had a shadow of that smile on her face. For a moment, you wanted to tell them everything. You wanted to tell them about the bridge, about Sans saving you, about Sans continuing to save you-every single day, about how hard it was to pretend to be normal, how hard it was to be Awake every day. But that moment passed as well and you found an unnatural smile stretching across your face. "How do you feel?"

 

"Well, I've been better," He chuckled. At least laughing didn't hurt him. His eyes flitted over to the door and widened. "Who's that?"

 

You turned around and saw Sans standing at the door nervously with a small container of jello. "hello, want jello?"

 

You smiled. "That's Sans, my roommate."

 

"And her best friend," Your mother added dryly. "You can come inside, Sans."

 

Sans shuffled inside and handed you the cup of jello. It looked disgusting. "wish we met under better circumstances," Sans said to your father.

 

"Believe me, I do too."

 

The three of you fell into a relaxed chatter and you were delighted to notice that Sans got along very well with your father. Sans, whose sense of humor was versatile, easily fell into step with your father's terrible dad jokes and you faked a few laughs for their benefit. Your mother watched on silently, her eyes lighter than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this chapter while i was very drunk and very sad so there are probably a lot of mistakes and i might not fix them i'm so sorry for the bad chapter i think


	18. Bend and Break

"Okay, Daddy." Phoebe said with a seductive smile. 

 

You cracked up in laughter, falling to the side of the couch. You knew there was a reason Phoebe was your favorite character on Friends.

 

"yo," Sans said, walking into the living room where you were watching the show. 

 

You sat back up and shot him a bright smile before turning your gaze back onto the television. "Hey, what's up?" You didn't get a response which caused you to look at him again, and you saw that he was simply staring at you with a small smile on his face. "Why are you staring?" You asked, raising your eyebrows.

 

"nothing, you just looked funny," Sans said quickly.

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"i don't know! all i wanted to do was ask if you wanted to have cookies!"

 

"Cookies? We have cookies?" You were slowly getting better at including yourself as part of the household rather than constantly making yourself out to be an outsider.

 

"yeah, you want cookies?" Sans looked absolutely relieved at the change of topic.

 

"Okay, daddy." Your smile froze on your face. 

 

Sans was staring at you in total horror. "did you just-?"

 

"I didn't! Don't make it real!" You threw one of the couch cushions at him, which he dodged with ease.

 

"okay, we're going to pretend that didn't actually happen, yeah? i'm gonna get the cookies and you didn't just call me da-" Sans choked on the word before turning around and heading to the kitchen. 

 

You let out an annoyed groan and turned the television off as soon as Sans left for the kitchen. Fuck Phoebe.

 

\------------------

 

It was late at night now. You and Sans had finished the entire packet of cookies (much to Papyrus' dismay) and now you couldn't sleep anymore. It wasn't like you ever got a good night's rest anyways. You rolled around uncomfortably before getting up out of bed. 

 

You might as well get a glass of water. 

 

As you were about to walk by Sans' room, you heard a loud thrashing. You stopped. You walked closer to the door and pressed your ear against it. You knew it was wrong but you couldn't help but feel concerned at the sound. However, now, along with the thrashing you could also make out soft cries. "Sans?!" You whispered loudly, alarmed.

 

You pushed open the door without thinking. Sans was tossing and turning, making small cries for help. You quickly closed the door behind you, hoping that Papyrus didn't hear any of the sounds Sans was making.

 

You had no idea what to do. You felt sick and heartbroken looking at him. "Sans," You whispered, quietly this time, as you went over the bed. You sat down on it and gently shook the skeleton monster's shoulder. "Sans, please wake up."

 

"no...no, hold mt hand," Sans whimpered, sounding absolutely anguished. 

 

Your eyes filled with tears and you grabbed on to his hand, using your other one to shake his shoulder harder. "Wake up!" You nearly yelled. Sans shot up, his left eye blazing blue and if you hadn't moved in time, his face would have crashed into yours.

 

"no, no, no-" He pleaded despairingly.

 

"It's okay! Sans, it's okay! Everything is fine!" You put your hands on this cheekbones, despite fearing that the fire in his eye might burn you. It didn't burn you, instead it faded out and was replaced with the two bright lights that you had grown to lo-care for.

 

"_____?" He said brokenly, his phalanges reaching up to trace your face. They ran slowly, lingeringly over your eyelids, nose, forehead, cheeks, and the tips of your ears. Finally one hand fell to the bed while the other rested on your lower lip, his thumb gently running across it. "i thought you were gone." 

 

"I'm here," You said, trying to make your voice strong. "And I'm going to be here, for...for as long as I can. For you."

 

He nuzzled his face to yours and when he pulled back, you felt that your cheeks were slightly wet. "no. please, do it for you. i want you to be here for yourself."

 

You smiled bitterly, pressing your forehead against his. "Maybe one day." 

 

You two stayed in that position for a few minutes until you broke the silence to ask, "You wanna talk about that dream?"

 

You were close enough to his face to make out a playful smile forming on his face. "maybe one day."

 

You rolled your eyes and started to move back when Sans grabbed your wrist in a vice-like grip. "please-please stay here tonight. please?"

 

You swallowed dryly, staring at him. His eyes seemed to hold ages of sorrow, sadness that you could never comprehend.  "Okay."

 

He pulled you into his arms and rolled the two of you in bed, spooning you gently. You thanked whatever higher being was out there that the lights were off because you were blushing furiously. Sans seemed like he couldn't care less and nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck. There was no way you'd be able to sleep like this.

 

You were asleep within minutes.

 

\----

 

You woke up the next morning to a bony hand running softly through your hair. You turned your head to see Sans staring down at you, his head resting on his other hand. He had a dangerous smirk on his face. "How's daddy's little girl doing this morning?"

 

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" You shrieked, grabbing a pillow and hitting him with it. 

 

You had no idea when your embarrassed shrieks turned to laughter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think lately I've been spending more of my time drunk than sober. Anyways your comments mean a lot to me so thank you!


	19. Hooked Up on a Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING????? ALCOHOL USE because this story relates to my personal life 
> 
> also just a reminder that sometimes there is a week or two timeskip in storyverse between chapters (like between this one and the last one)

Why were you so weak?

 

It was already getting to be too much for you. You loved these classes, you truly did, but you found yourself making bad decisions all over again. You were crippled under all the stress that came with the work in the classes and as much as you enjoyed it, you couldn't handle it. Today you got your first D, for a poor essay on Impressionism.

 

Which was why you were sitting in-"My favorite bar! Another shot of tequila, Grillby!" You called out, giggling. Grillby looked highly unimpressed as he slammed another shot down in front you-which you drank like a boss. You were at the point where you didn't need to scrunch your face up from the taste of the alcohol. "Grillby, I-" Grillby wasn't paying attention to you. He was tapping away on his phone, a behavior that you thought was rather unprofessional. But he was your friend, so you easily let it go.

 

"Hey there dollface," An unfamiliar arm wrapped around your shoulder. "What are you doing all alone in a place like this?"

 

"Drinking away my pain!" You slurred, "And you?" You turned your head to see a face that was neither ugly nor attractive, a face easy to forget.

 

Aw, dollface, how about the two of us-"

 

" **leave her alone."** Said an incredibly dark voice. A skeletal hand wrapped around the arm on your shoulder and flung it off. You turned your head yet again to see that it was Sans, who was seething. In your state, you couldn't care less what dangerous mood he was in and you threw yourself into his arms. He caught you easily and pulled you close to him but he was glaring at you. "what do you think you're doing?"

 

"My favorite person!" You cried, burying you head into his shoulder, "You're my favorite person." Due to your position, you didn't see Sans' expression soften.

 

"Hey dude, what's the big idea? Let a guy get with a cute girl!"

 

"you realize she's drunk and what you're doing is against the law?" Sans spoke coldly. 

 

"Yeah but who cares as long as she enjoys it?" 

 

You heard a crash and you looked back around to see that Mr. Sleaze had fallen down and was looking up at Sans with a horrified expression. " **you talk to her ever again and i will destroy you."**

 

And with those pleasant words the two of you disappeared.

 

Once the two of you appeared in the living room you swayed on your feet. You didn't know that doing the teleportation thing drunk would be such an awful experience. But honestly, you couldn't bring yourself to care.

 

Sans grabbed onto your shoulders, steadying you. "please don't throw up, please don't throw up-"

 

"I'm not going to throw up skeleton boy," You stroked his cheekbone. "You know I'd enjoy it with you."

 

"enjoy wha-oh." Sans' gaze on you intensified as he recalled what Mr. Sleaze had said earlier. "you're drunk, don't say stuff like that now."

 

"So what? My feelings aren't gonna change when I'm sober." Your hand slid down from his cheekbone and linked with your other hand around his neck.

 

Sans arms reluctantly wrapped around your waist. "what feelings?"

 

"My feelings for you, silly!" You slurred ridiculously.

 

Sans winced. "no, no, this is bad. you're drunk and this is bad."

 

You teared up automatically. "What are you saying? You don't want me?"

 

Sans eye sockets narrowed and the lights within them glinted dangerously. "of course i want you. i want you really fucking bad. but not like this."

 

"Fine! Whatever!" You took a rough step away from him and were about to keel over when you were suddenly surrounded by a blue glow and set gently on the couch. Sans sat down next to you and you immediately cuddled into his side. "You're my favorite," You mumbled.

 

Sans chuckled softly, "you're mine, as well." It was silent for awhile, with you simply running the tips of your fingers over Sans' hard chest. "what made you want to drink so much?" He asked quietly.

 

"I practically failed my essay," You grumbled. "I'm so stupid."

 

"Hey, hey listen." Sans touched your cheek. "You are not stupid okay. And drinking to get away from sadness is a shitty reason to drink."

 

"I know," You said agreeably. 

 

"And from now on, I'd like it if you only drank at home, yeah? I'm not saying you can't drink but moderation is important."

 

"Okay," You nodded, feeling like you should be fighting this rule a little more but you just really didn't give a fuck. "Can we talk about our feelings now?" You impulsively decided to kiss his cheek.

 

A dusting of blue coated Sans face as he looked down at you. "If you remember this when you're sober, then yes we can talk about our feelings."

 

You pouted. "I'm a huge pain to you, aren't I?"

 

"you're not." Sans disagreed.

 

"I don't annoy you? You don't hate me?"

 

"you don't annoy me and i definitely don't hate you." Sans sounded exasperated at this point. "how about you go to sleep?" He ran his phalanges through your hair.

 

"You know, it feels really good when you do that," You murmured, your eyes drifting shut.

 

"do what?"

 

"The thing you're doing with my hair right now, that feels really good."

 

"i'll keep doing it then."

 

When you opened your eyes next, you were covered up with a blanket and had a fluffy pillow under your head. It smelled like Sans' cologne. You blushed-why did you know what his cologne smelled like? You sat up and it felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on your head. You winced as your mind flashed and everything that happened earlier that day (or night? you weren't sure what the time was) came crashing down on you. "Sans..." You mumbled, before awkwardly getting up and trudging to his room as fast as your weak feet could take you.

 

You didn't knock, you just pushed open the door and saw Sans. Your Sans. He was sitting at his computer writing something down but he looked up at you with a worried gaze when you came in. "sorry, i was gonna come back to you right after i-"

 

"I remember. I want to talk about our feelings."

 

Sans gaze became unreadable as he put the pen down and stood up. He walked over to you and closed the door, but let his hand continue to rest on it. "okay, then. talk."

 

What were you supposed to say? "I-I think I really like you. Not just 'like' I mean 'like like'." Oh, how eloquent.

 

Sans simply looked amused, an odd happiness lighting up his face. "i think i like you too. a lot."

 

"Like like?" You asked meekly.

 

"yes, 'like like'."

 

The two of you stayed silent and you didn't realize it until his forehead gently touched yours that he had been getting closer to you. "can i kiss you?"

 

You blushed furiously. "Yes!" You exclaimed loudly, your hands closing into fists, "Of course you can!"

 

Sans grinned and tilted his head to the side and his teeth gently brushed against your lips. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer. His hand slid from the door and both of them wrapped around your waist as his mouth moved expertly against yours. It felt so warm and you felt so alive, despite your pounding headache.

 

You almost didn't feel the itch on your arm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day very soon I'm going to write an actual angsty chapter and you guys will regret it.


	20. My Dick Pays Rent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> starting from right where we left off last chapter

His expression was incredibly nervous, an adorable smattering of blue covered his cheekbones. "was that-was that okay?"

 

Okay? Just okay? You could have done that forever. You had no idea kissing a skeleton could be so pleasant.  "It was amazing, Sans."

 

But would you be allowed to do it again? And didn't this just ruin your friendship? What if this was what he wanted all along, he didn't actually care about you, he just wanted to get into your pants and-no. Intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts.  _Intrusive thoughts._

 

"hey," Sans interrupted your dangerous spiral gently, "you're thinking too much."

 

"I can't help it." You whispered.

 

"want me to distract you?" He said slyly.

 

"Is that all you're going to be? Distracting me? Is that all this is? Us distracting each other? What if-?" Sans put a long finger to your lips, silencing you.

 

"this is real." He leaned his forehead against yours. "and it's simple really-i want you, you want me, we're together. nothing changes, we just make out a lot."

 

You gave a breathless laugh. Of course to Sans, it would be that easy. Of course he wouldn't care for the million steps that came between friendship and dating. Of course you wouldn't have to change anything for him. "Can we hold hands and stuff?"

 

He smiled. "only if i get to call you cute pet names."

 

"What type of pet names?" You asked suspiciously. 

 

"babe, baby, princess, sweetheart, sugar booger-heard that last one on tv."

 

"Everything passes except for that last one."

 

"aw, but that one was my favorite."

 

"This relationship will end before it even starts." You were grinning. What had you even been worried about a few minutes ago?

 

His hands squeezed your waist. "i'll drop that one under one condition."

 

"What is it?" Your lips barely brushed against his mouth as you spoke.

 

"you need to let me take you out on a date."

 

In response, you pressed your lips against his mouth again.

 

\------

 

"This is your idea of a date?!" You groaned under your breath.

 

Sans had taken you to another one of his employee parties. His only instruction had been to dress nicely. He had told you it was going to be a surprise, and even as the two of you reached campus, you hoped he had a secret candlelit dinner laid out somewhere. But no, to your utter misery, he led you to the familiar building the last party was held.

 

"i just thought that, since your last experience didn't go well, the two of us can actually have some fun this time." As an afterthought, he added, "plus, i get to introduce you as my girlfriend."

 

You immediately felt lightheaded. "Girlfriend? Is that what I am to you?"

 

He looked at you worriedly. "aren't you my girlfriend? don't humans only kiss their significant other?"

 

Your face fired up. He was so fucking cute. But you had to break the truth to him. "No, actually, humans kind of just kiss people without strings attached."

 

His eye sockets widened, and then narrowed. "you know all the strings are attached here right? like you can't go off and kiss anyone else?"

 

"I don't want to kiss anyone else." You smiled way too happily and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

 

_Girlfriend._ _He called you his girlfriend. Despite everything, he was with you._

 

"Hey twerps!" said a loud voice, interrupting your giddy thoughts.

 

Sans grinned mischievously at Undyne and Alphys. "have the two of you met my girlfriend, _____?"

 

Alphys let out a squeal that could have broken the sound barrier. "I-I k-knew it! I knew it! I knew this was going to happen eventually!"

 

You looked curiously at her. "How?"

 

Alphys blushed a mighty red as she glanced between you and Sans. "Y-you mean you don't know yet?"

 

"know what?" Sans asked in a dangerous voice.

 

Alphys immediately grew flustered and started to fidget with her hands. "I-I mean, I don't even kn-know if I'm right! I-it just seems like it! You two just seem like you w-would! From what I know about Sans and just the way he acts around _____...."

 

You felt a growing sense of dread as Alphys rambled on. All of a sudden, it felt like there were bugs crawling up your arm, bugs in your veins, but your other hand was clasped within Sans and you couldn't do anything about it. 

 

"Alph, what are you talking about?" Undyne asked uneasily.

 

There was a moment of silence as Alphys looked at all of you. "I-it's nothing. I just shipped you two from the start!"

 

Sans looked like he wanted to say something more but then Undyne punched him in the arm. "Good thing you didn't take that teaching position, huh?"

 

Sans winced and rubbed his shoulder, while you turned to gape at him, sufficiently distracted from what had just happened. "Oh god, you were going to be a professor? I could never date a professor."

 

"ha!" Sans smiled like he was holding back a secret. "you don't know that."

 

Undyne rolled her eye. "Okay, whatever. Alph let's leave these two lovebirds to their disgusting fantasies and go dance!"

 

Sans watched the two of them leave with an odd expression on his face before he turned back to you, his smile a little too wide.  "you wanna go raid the buffet table?"

 

"I thought you'd never ask."

 

\----

 

The next morning, Sans hand brushed across your shoulder blades as he sat down next to you at the dinner table. He grabbed a few pancakes and-much to your disgust-squeezed ketchup over them. He then proceeded to open the textbook he had brought out with him and pore over it.

 

You cleared your throat.

 

He paid no attention.

 

You sighed. "Did you tell Papyrus?"

 

"tell him what?"

 

"That, you know, we're a thing?"

 

He gave a small shrug. "i'll tell him when he gets back from work."

 

"Oh. Okay." Why was it so hard to talk all of a sudden? You would call it New Couple Syndrome but Sans seemed totally at ease.

 

There was a beat of silence before you spoke again. "Hey, I never paid the rent last month. What happened to that."

 

"you don't need to pay rent. perks of dating me." Sans eye lights continued to skim over the text.

 

"Yes I do, I'll pay for this month. You need to let me make it up to you for last month somehow," You insisted.

 

"hmm," Sans mumbled, clearly not really paying attention, "you could suck my dick or something."

 

You filed away the fact that he had a dick in some lewd corner of your mind. "Okay," You said seriously, holding back a smile.

 

You reached your hand out and touched Sans knee. Seeing him make no response except for a slight hum, you started to trail your fingers up his thigh bone and slightly under his shorts. Sans eyes widened suddenly and he and the chair shot away from you. "wait a second! i was joking! don't suck my dick!"

 

You snickered. "Wow, should I be offended?"

 

Sans took a deep breath to relax. "i mean, we've been dating for like three days, lets think about that stuff later."

 

"I never thought I'd say this to you but chill." You smiled as Sans chuckled, finally calmed down.

 

You got up and walked up to him and pressed a kiss to the top of his skull. You hoped it was just New Couple Syndrome.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SPENT DAYS WRITING THIS CHAPTER AND DYING INSIDE BECAUSE IT'S JUST SO WEIRD??? IT AIN'T RIGHT OKAY!! I'm so sorry this is the best i can do in my current state i might even end up deleting this one and trying again
> 
> in other news no update for awhile again because my 21st bday is coming up and i can now get wasted LEGALLY WHAT A CONCEPT

**Author's Note:**

> [TUMBLR](http://www.badtiems.tumblr.com)
> 
> This story is heavily based on personal experience, and partially on a book I've started reading.
> 
> let me know if there are any errors :)


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